Pray for us, deputy president William Ruto pleads

By Vincent Bartoo and James Mbaka

Eldoret, Kenya: Deputy President William Ruto has asked Kenyans to pray for him and President Uhuru Kenyatta as they travel to The Hague to face trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The Deputy President is expected to fly out of the country tomorrow morning and will be met by Kenyan embassy officials. Dutch government officials will also be at hand to welcome him. His advance team left for The Hague last evening.

“We believe in a living God and just like he helped us have a peaceful election, the same God will assist us to go through these challenges,” said Mr Ruto.

He assured Kenyans that with their prayers, he was confident of overcoming the ICC hurdle and shame the devil. “We are confident the God who helped us win the elections will be the same God who will vindicate us at the ICC,” he said yesterday during the closure of Naka IDP camp in Eldoret.

“We will go there and speak the truth and leave the rest to God. If we believed him to deliver victory to us, we believe he will help us cross this hurdle,” he said.

Ruto said when he teamed up with Uhuru to run for the presidency, they vowed their union would stand even in defeat.

“There are those who think we came together for the sake of power. When we sat down, we agreed that whether we won or lost, we would work towards uniting our two communities,” he said.

The DP goes back to The Hague after a prolonged two-year legal battle, characterised by setbacks and boosts in equal measure both for the prosecution and the defence, which failed to end his indictment for the 2007/08 post-election violence.

After days of anxiety and long wait for clearance of his name, Ruto will face the prosecution led by Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda in what is expected to be a major legal showdown.

All eyes will be on the historic proceedings at the ICC from Tuesday. The Kenyan cases are unique in that the suspects are the country’s sitting president and his deputy.

Amid concerns of a power vacuum in the country after the ICC trial calendar between November 12 and December 13 puts President Kenyatta and Ruto on trial at the same time, the two have put up brave faces and assured Kenyans all shall be well.

They spent most of the day yesterday resettling the remaining IDPs. It was feared the issue of IDPs still living in camps six years since they were displaced in 2007 could have been used against the two in court although they were not in power during the post-election violence.

Ruto hosted President Kenyatta for a busy Saturday in the North Rift where they presided over issuance of cheques to the last batch of internally displaced persons in Uasin Gishu County.

They then moved to Iten for Senator Kipchumba Murkomen’s homecoming where they also received prayers from church and community elders.

The President issued cheques worth Sh400,000 for each household to some 200 victims of the post-election violence who have been living in Naka IDP camp on the outskirts of Eldoret town.

The Jubilee government has set aside Sh3.3 billion to resettle some 8,298 people living in various camps following the poll chaos of 2007/08.

The money would be used to purchase land and an additional Sh10,000 as house allowance during the transition period of finding alternative land.

At Iten, President Kenyatta urged the beneficiaries to use the money wisely and ensure it provides shelter to their families.

The government plans to close all IDP camps including Eldoret, Mai Mahiu and Camp Kembu in Mau Forest before the end of this month.

This was the first homecoming to be graced by President Kenyatta since the March 4 elections and its choice had both political significance and comrade symbolism ahead of the ICC trials.

Laced with sermons, spiritual undertones and fair blend of encouragement tinges, the event was largely turned into an altar of consecration and dedication of the two.

Over fears that if the two were to appear before the ICC at the same time, there would be a power vacuum, the President reassured Kenyans that the government was stable and people should go on with their businesses without fear.