The Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has denied any involvement in the death of Meshack Yebei, the man who was found murdered in Uasin Gishu County last week.
Further, the OTP maintained that Yebei was not in their list of witnesses saying he had been rejected because of being implicated in attempts to corrupt other witnesses.
This came as local police insisted they were not certain if the body that Yebei’s family is preparing to bury, was his.
“We cannot ascertain with finality the identity of the body because it had been disfigured and partly decomposed until a DNA and other tests are conducted. We had notified the public who have lost their kin to come and assist in facilitating the process,” said Nandi East District Criminal Investigation Officer Samson Thoya.
In a statement issued yesterday evening, ICC said:”The Office of the Prosecutor wishes to categorically state that any suggestion that it was involved in Mr Yebei’s alleged abduction and murder is both outrageous and utterly false.”
Yebei went missing in Turbo, Uasin Gishu County on December 28 last year and his body was found on Saturday near Yala River bridge on Eldoret-Kisumu road some 15km from Kapsabet town.
His family says he had reported to the police that his life was in danger over a year before his mutilated body was recovered.
A few days after his disappearance, his mother and a friend received a text message purporting to be coming from him, saying he was safe and in Uganda with some ICC officials.
Deputy President William Ruto has since disclosed that Yebei was one of his witnesses at the ICC.
The confirmation was made in the confidential letter written by his lawyer Karim Khan to the CID director Ndegwa Muhoro.
“Mr Yebei was a critical witness to the defence and because of this and the risk we believe he faced, we had referred him to the ICC Victims and Witness Unit for protection,” said the letter. On Wednesday MPs allied to Jubilee coalition sought to implicate a civil society activist vocal in support of the ICC and the court’s prosecution in the execution.
“The prime suspect is one Ken Wafula while prime suspect number two is the Office of the Prosecutor led by one Fatou Bensouda and the ICC,” National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale claimed at a press conference at Parliament Buildings. Investigating officers in Nandi County have taken the fingerprints of the deceased to establish his identity. The burial is set for next Saturday.
Additional reporting by Michael Ollinga and Silah Koskei
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