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Deputy prime minister one of six men accused of perpetrating political violence that left 1,300 dead
Six Kenyans, including the deputy prime minister, will appear for the first time in The Hague on Thursday and Friday to face charges of crimes against humanity, in cases that are likely to change the country's political landscape forever.
The men are accused by the international criminal court of being the main perpetrators of the 2007-2008 post-election violence that claimed more than 1,300 lives. The cases have attracted huge interest in Kenya, where memories of the bloodshed are still fresh, and high-level impunity has reigned for decades.
The accused are some of the most powerful people in the country, including Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto, the perceived leaders of the Kikuyu and Kalenjin ethnic groups respectively, which have had a monopoly on the presidency since independence. In the lead-up to the hearing both men have been cautioned by the government for hate speech during rallies to drum up support.
The first hearing involves Ruto and fellow MP, Henry Kosgey, who have both been suspended from the cabinet over fraud allegations, as well as Joshua Arap Sang, a radio presenter. They are accused of planning and inciting the initial wave of ethnic violence following President Mwai Kibaki's fraud-tainted election win at the end of 2007.
Allegedly at their instruction, Kalenjin militias in the Rift Valley targeted supporters of Kibaki, mostly Kikuyus, torching houses, looting and murdering. Many people are still unable to return home.
The second hearing deals with the retaliatory violence, which saw Kikuyu gangs attack civilians perceived to back the prime minister, Raila Odinga, who many believe beat Kibaki in the presidential election.
Kenyatta, who is deputy prime minister and finance minister, and the son of Kenya's first president, Jomo Kenyatta, is accused as an "indirect co-perpetrator" of murder, rape and forcible transfer of persons. Alongside him will be the cabinet secretary, Francis Muthaura, who is Kibaki's closest adviser, and the former police chief Hussein Ali.
The ICC's involvement in the case stems from the failure of Kenya's coalition government to set up a special local tribunal to try those responsible for the ethnic attacks, which echoed politically inspired violence in the 90s that went unpunished.
Even in the regular courts, there has scarcely been a single successful prosecution related to the post-election violence.
Stung by the case against Kenyatta and Muthaura in particular, Kibaki's wing of the government has mounted a last-minute challenge to the ICC over the admissibility of the case, arguing justice can and should be dispensed locally. But most Kenyans disagree; a poll published on Tuesday showed that 61% of people wanted the trials to go to The Hague.
While four of the suspects have kept a low profile since being named by the ICC prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo in December, Kenyatta and Ruto have come out fighting. Proteges of former president Daniel arap Moi, and both extremely wealthy, they have been touring the country together recently to muster support.
At a large prayer rally for the two on Monday, Kenyatta's mother and former first lady, "Mama Ngina", claimed that the trial was a neocolonial plot. "The colonialists gave us problems and now it is clear they have never relented," she said.
Kenyatta and Ruto, who both have strong presidential ambitions, have concentrated their attacks on Odinga, the man most likely to succeed Kibaki when he retires in 2012. Already far ahead in the opinion polls, he is likely to benefit from his rivals' travails if, as many believe is already the case, their political careers are over.
"Kenyatta and Ruto have long been kingmakers or kings-in-waiting, both ethnically and generationally," said Mutahi Ngunyi, a political analyst in Nairobi. "Now they are cooked, which changes the local politics dramatically."
The two men have managed to draw some support in parliament, and about 40 Kenyan MPs are expected to fly to The Hague to lend support.
After this week's hearing, the confirmation of charges hearings can commence, the final step before trial.
Each of the "Ocampo Six" maintains his innocence. But Wycliffe Muga, a Kenyan columnist, said that regardless of the verdicts, the ICC intervention had already greatly reduced the chances of politically organised violence recurring.
"Leaders now realise that the guys they send to kill for them can sell them out in an international court, as has happened here. They would be so stupid to do it again."