What happened at State House?

By Standard Team

What evidence does Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo have to back his claim President Kibaki’s State House hosted the planning meeting for Mungiki Sect’s retaliatory attacks in Rift Valley during post-election violence?

That is the speculative question that has dominated public debate ahead of Wednesday’s start of confirmation hearings involving three men considered closest to Kibaki at the time of the violence, and even to date.

It is also the question that will keep Kenyans glued to their television sets, with State House, which has vehemently denied the claims by the International Criminal Court Prosecutor, expected to also give the hearings more than just a cursory glance.
The three suspects are after all facing the prospect o

f trials for crimes against humanity over what Ocampo claims were their conspiratorial roles in trying to keep Kibaki in power as the violence sparked by his contested victory raged and threatened to uproot him from State House.

The alleged meeting at State House featured as a one-liner in the report by the commission into post-election violence headed by Justice Phillip Waki. It is also the anchor of the serious claims Ocampo has made against Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, Head of Civil Service Mr Francis Muthaura and former Police Commissioner Maj-Gen (Rtd) Hussein Ali. 

 Expectedly therefore, given the revered place State House occupies in the hearts of Kenyans and the history of the nation, every of Ocampo’s claim and shred of evidence he will present to back is claims that this seat of power was partially the planning theatre for the chaos, would intensely interest Kenyans.  

Many will also be following the proceedings in a bid to understand more about what could possibly, according to Ocampo, was going on at State House and right inside the half-Cabinet at the time President Kibaki was literally under siege, with many parts of the country awash with violence and fast spinning out of the control of security officers.

Also following the proceedings keenly will be supporters of Orange Democratic Movement at the time, who Ocampo has told were under attack by a proscribed sect whose services were sought by the suspects, with Ali allegedly conscripted to give them ‘safe passage’ to Naivasha and Nakuru.

Reckless

In evidence Ocampo has made available to the defence teams in Case Two, the Prosecutor claims revenge killings in Naivasha and Nakuru in January 2008 were planned in State House, a claim President Kibaki has strongly refuted, denouncing it as baseless.

“We refer to reports attributed to ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo claiming that there was a meeting with Mungiki at State House. The reports are reckless, baseless and untrue. As we have previously stated, State House has never hosted any meeting of the Mungiki as claimed by Ocampo,” read a rebuttal statement from the Presidential Press Service when Ocampo read out his charges against the three.

The prosecutor’s evidence indicates that Uhuru and Muthaura attended a preparatory meeting with representatives of the outlawed Mungiki sect at State House on December 30, 2007.

During the meeting, Uhuru and Mr Muthaura allegedly enlisted the services of Mungiki leaders and concluded plans for revenge attacks in Naivasha and Nakuru. Ocampo also gives Nairobi Club as the location of another meeting allegedly held on January 3, 2008.

Muthaura arrived at The Hague on Monday, while Uhuru and Gen Ali arrived in the Dutch city on Tuesday morning.

Uhuru’s lawyers Steven Kay QC, Gillian Higgins, Desterio Oyatsi and Mbuthi Gathenji all received their visas from the Dutch embassy in Nairobi on Monday evening and were expected to have flown to The Hague on Tuesday.

The team has been holed up in Nairobi for the last two months combing through thousands of pages of evidence filed by Ocampo.

Barring any last minute changes, the court proceedings are expected to start at 3.30pm with introductory remarks by the Presiding Judge Ekaterina Trendafilova who is a stickler for protocol and has previously warned defence teams to observe time and speak only when necessary or when required to.  Muthaura’s defence counsel will then make their opening remarks followed by Uhuru and Ali’s teams.

The opening statement by the Prosecutor will follow at 6.30pm to 7.00pm and legal representatives for Muthaura and Uhuru respectively between 7.30pm to 9.00pm.

Ocampo’s team of battle-hardened prosecutors will begin presenting evidence on crimes against humanity and the modes of liability for each suspect on Thursday from 5.30pm an exercise that will run until close of proceedings at 9.00pm the following day.

The defence team for Ali filed an admissibility challenge on Monday, claiming Ocampo has no evidence from junior officers linking their client with crimes against humanity.

“The prosecution has not submitted even one witness statement of any junior or senior police officer professing to have either received or relayed orders to “stand down” (to ignore) from General Ali,” his lawyer Mr Evans Monari said.

The prosecution plans to produce evidence to convince the three judges Peter Hans-Kohl, Cuno Tarfusser and Trendafilova — to commit the three to trial for crimes against humanity committed during the “retaliatory” attacks.

The Prosecutor said Uhuru and Muthaura relied on a network of pro-PNU government officials, businessmen and local politicians and gave the attackers Administration Police uniforms, weapons, transportation, accommodation and logistical support.

Ocampo’s dossier indicates that the attacks in Naivasha were launched in an orderly and well planned manner on the morning of January 27, 2008.

Mungiki members in Nairobi who had been earmarked to carry out the attacks were allegedly mobilised through short text messages requesting them to report at specific locations in Nairobi from where they were picked up by Citi Hoppa buses and transported through secret routes to State House in Nairobi.

Brand new

Upon arrival at State House, Moreno-Ocampo says, a Mungiki leader in the presence of senior government officials addressed the outlawed sect members. “Mungiki members were then transported from State House to Naivasha using military trucks by men wearing Kenya Army uniforms. The trucks contained brand new machetes as well as wooden clubs which the Mungiki were instructed to use for the battle in Naivasha,” he claimed.

The Mungiki were broken up into groups of 10 fighters each to be commanded by an experienced Mungiki member of the military wing.

The prosecutor alleged that the National Security Committee, chaired by Muthaura failed to act on the Naivasha District Security Committee’s request for the arrest of 12 individuals involved in organising and financing the Naivasha attacks.

Meanwhile, Belgut MP Charles Keter is to record a statement this morning with the Criminal Investigation Department over his alleged utterances about witnesses at the ICC.