By Judy Ogutu

Agriculture Minister William Ruto now wants a report linking him to post-election violence squashed.

The minister moved to court to challenge the authenticity of the report, saying he was not given a chance to defend himself before the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) report was published.

Ruto says there is no evidence linking him to the violence, and that the allegations against him "are a result of an illegality, irrationality, breach of the rule of law, and disregard of constitutionality and denial of legitimate expectations".

He further posits that the "conclusions drawn by the respondent in the report are arbitrary, oppressive, violate the applicable laws, offend public policy, and were made in a situation where the respondent became the investigator, prosecutor and judge". Ruto says he was not notified of the adverse conclusions in the report, and only learnt of them when he bought a copy. He says he has never been involved in violence, stating that he addressed public rallies where he appealed to Kenyans to maintain peace.

Ruto denies ever participating in the violence and says KNCHR findings have seriously dented his reputation, affected his liberty, career, and fundamental rights.

The minister becomes the second politician to challenge the report by KNCHR. Finance Minister, Uhuru Kenyatta, has also filed a similar suit, which has been set for hearing in February by two judges, Justice Roselyn Wendoh and Justice Abida Ali Aroni.

The Commission of Inquiry into Post-Election Violence chaired by Court of Appeal judge, Justice Philip Waki, relied on the KNCHR’s report, among others, to draw a list of people allegedly behind the violence. The violence that following the disputed December 2007 presidential election claimed about 1,300 lives.

In his application, Kenyatta says he was never given an opportunity to give his side of the story to the KNCHR before it compiled its report.

In response, the commission says Kenyatta and other politicians adversely mentioned in the report, were invited to give their side of the story, but they failed to do so.

Ruto yesterday filed an urgent suit at High Court in Nairobi, saying it ought to be heard urgently given the gravity of the issue and injury to his reputation.

Through his advocate, Katwa Kigen, Ruto says KNCHR claims he is among the people who were involved in planning, inciting, and financing the violence were baseless and ought to be quashed.

Lady Justice Roselyn Wendoh allowed him to apply for orders seeking to quash allegations that he participated or was involved in the violence in KNCHR report, On the Brink of the Precipice: A Human Rights Account of Kenya’s Post 2007 Election violence.

She also directed him to file and serve the main suit on KNCHR within 21 days.

Ruto complains he was not informed of the allegations or allowed to meet his accusers. But he admits being informally asked by KNCHR to give accounts of post-election violence a day after it announced its intentions to investigate the chaos.

"I did call on them at a meeting, which was informal. I was asked if I knew anything about the logistics of the violence. I explained all I knew and my understanding of the violence, which was to the effect that it was initially, a protest over elections that had not been transparent and that in most instances it became violent because the police used excessive force to quell the protest. All I knew about post-election violence was in the public domain."

"The applicant was not given notice with particulars, seeking his response to the allegations made in the report that he participated in the planning, inciting and financing post-election violence," Katwa says of his client.