ICC Witness: Ruto asked Kalenjins to evict Kikuyus at rally!

After the previous revelations seemed to contradict the wishes of the ICC Prosecutor,  Witness P376 finally came true for the prosecutor. The witness made very damaging revelations that seemingly will help damage the relationship between the two tribe coalition.

Here is the story as filed by Nation media’s Walter Menya

Deputy President William Ruto instructed Kalenjins to evict Kikuyus from Eldoret and surrounding areas during the 2007 election campaigns, a witness said Thursday.

While responding to questions from prosecution lawyer Anton Stynberg, witness P376 said Mr Ruto told the Kalenjins to remove Madoadoa (Kiswahili for stains) from the region.

This, the witness said, was in apparent reference to Kikuyus, who had migrated to Eldoret. The witness said that at the height of the vote chase, they were also referred to as Kwekwe (Kiswahili for weeds).

He said Mr Ruto was highly regarded in his community, and that no one ‘would dare go against his directions’.

Witness: “As demanded by the public, they had no option but address the crowd that had blocked the road to where they were going”.

Prosecution: “Who addressed the crowd?”

Witness: “Mr Ruto”.

Prosecution: “What did he tell the crowd?”

Witness: “He told them that time had come for the people in that area to show their true colours and do what is necessary to make sure the Madoadoa are removed… because of the political affiliation”.
The witness also said that the youths who attacked other communities were fully armed and appeared to follow well choreographed script laid down by their commanders.

He said the youths who were attacking people may have been transported from different parts of the country.

“It is at that particular time that people realised that it was not a laughing matter and this could have been a properly arranged fight,” witness 376 said in reference to the attacks that erupted after December 30, in which a number of people were killed and houses torched in Langas.

“That incident could not have just happened … It is not normal for people to carry weapons during peace time,” he said.

The witness told the court that the attackers had time to pick out the homes that they were going to attack, which mainly belonged to Kikuyus.

As a result of the attacks aimed at the Kikuyu, the witness said the Kikuyu youths armed themselves with machetes and went back to confront the attackers.

“While they were confronting the Kalenjin warriors, they cornered three Kalenjin youths and killed them near the centre. I saw the bodies of the three lying on the ground. The bodies had multiple cuts and one had the head completely cut off,” the witness said.

Of the three attackers who were killed by the Kikuyu youths, the witness said they were not known to him or the residents of the area.