Iteere says Ruto team secured Uhuru Park first

By Cyrus Ombati

Commissioner of police Mathew Iteere has now issued a statement that seems to be supporting the Ocampo Six rally at Uhuru Park claiming their supporters secured the venue first.

Iteere claims the venue has been booked by an organization calling itself, Federation of Evangelical & Indigenous Christian Churches of Kenya (FEICCK)

through their national chairman one Bishop Joseph Methu.

"We have also been informed that FEICCK was holding the rally in conjunction with another group calling itself ‘the organizing committee, home coming rally of the Ocampo 6’. Their reservation of Uhuru Park was confirmed through a Nairobi City Council letter dated 7th of April, 2011 under reference PS.38/DOE/1/7/SNM/DNM," said Iteere in a statement.

Iteere said only FEICCK have duly notified the police of their meeting and that the presence of any other group at the venue can only cause a breach of the peace which is against the word and spirit of the law.

But ODM insists they had booked the venue earlier and have accused Iteere of favouring the PNU wing. The ODM group says they will also attend the meeting and that their PNU counterparts had booked the venue on Sunday and not Monday.

Eldoret North MP, William Ruto, Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka wave at the crowds when they arrived for the Uhuru Park Prayer Rally on Monday

Some of the Ocampo Six group led by William Ruto and Uhuru Kenyatta are now on enroute for Uhuru Park. The convoy is snaking its way through Jogoo Road with regular stops to address their supporters.

Security is tight at the Uhuru Park as police screen all those walking in. There are PNU/Uhuru/Ruto supporters already at the park amid fears there may be chaos when the ODM group arrives there too.

Both Uhuru and Ruto addressed a small crowd at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on arrival from The Hague on Monday morning and called for unity saying they want to unite all Kenyans. Radio journalist Joshua Sang, also an ICC suspect, arrived together with the politicians.

The three were part of the six suspects who appeared at the International Criminal Court in The Hague last week to answer to accusations of crimes against humanity. The six included Head of Civil Service Francis Muthaura, Postmaster General Hussein Ali and Tinderet MP Henry Kosgey. Confirmation of charges hearings would be on September 21. A status conference will be held on April 18, at which the ICC prosecutor will make available to the defence teams the evidence he has against them.

The suspects were last week warned by the ICC judges against using hate speech or risk arrest.

ICC Pre-trial Chamber II Presiding Judge Ms Ekaterina Trendafilova warned the suspects that the court would replace the summonses with warrants of arrests should the suspects engage in hate speech.

Earlier Government spokesman Alfred Mutua released a strange statement in which he appeared to be speaking on behalf of PNU, claiming that ODM plans to "disrupt the PNU rally and cause chaos".

Mutua’s statement appeared to relay the message that the Government had already taken sides in the matter and thrown its weight behind the rally for the Ocampo suspects.

Uhuru and Ruto are expected to address the rally and it would be interesting to watch what they would say given the order that was issued by the Pre-Trial Chamber handling their cases.

The 40 MPs who accompanied the suspects are also expected to attend the Uhuru Park meeting.