The trial of Deputy President William Ruto resumed on Monday at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for what could be the last session before the prosecution closes its case.
But it was not until 5.20pm Kenyan time that the first prosecution witness for the session was sworn to start testifying.
The judges and lawyers spent the whole day in private sessions, appearing in public twice for less than two minutes each time.
Ruto and radio journalist Joshua Sang are facing trial for crimes against humanity said to have been committed during the 2007-2008 post-election violence. Ruto was, however, not in court for the start of the session.
Ruto's presence at the Hague-based courtroom is not mandatory under the "conditional excusal from attendance of trial" granted on him by judges on January 25. Under the excusal, Ruto was required to be present, among other instances, in the first five days of hearing after a judicial recess.
The last judicial recess was the summer one of between July 18 and August 11. The next judicial recess is the winter one, between December 12 and January 5, 2015.
After being sworn, the witness who spoke in fluent English was taken through the court regulations and trial procedures by presiding judge Eboe Osuji.
Unlike four other witnesses who testified from Nairobi through video link during the last session, the new witness was present at The Hague.
And soon after taking the stand, the witness, number 800 narrated how Ruto incited the Kalenjin to evict Kikuyus from the Rift Valley during the 2005 Constitution referendum campaigns.
The witness, claimed Ruto asked the Kalenjin to uproot "white mushrooms" in the area, whom the witness understood to refer to the Kikuyu. The witness was led through his evidence by Prosecutor Anton Sternberg.
The witness said he heard Ruto make the remarks at a meeting in the North Rift in October 2005.
"He said he was seeing the white mushrooms still in that area," the witness said, adding that Ruto said the mushrooms should be uprooted. He said Ruto was referring to Kikuyus.
The prosecution is expected to close its case during this session, after which the defence teams would make an application for Ruto and Sang to be acquitted for lack of evidence.
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