NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 31 – The police boss, who the 10th ICC witness in the case against William Ruto and Joshua Sang had claimed was shot dead with an arrow while addressing a crowd in Nandi Hills Town, is alive and well.
A photograph only taken last week, was displayed as evidence on Friday at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
And while the witness, who was being questioned by one of Ruto’s lawyers David Hooper, had said that the police officer was a Kikuyu, it has emerged that he is actually a Luo called George Odhiambo.
Hooper: Did you see the policeman fall down?
Witness: I was at the back of the big crowd so I couldn’t see and when I was told it was a police officer I just turned back and ran.
Trial Chamber V (a) Presiding Judge: Did you see the man fall down? Yes or No?
Witness: I was at the back so I did not see.
The witness had on Wednesday told the court how he had been a part of a crowd that the officer was addressing when he was shot by an arrow that killed him instantly.
He even narrated how he ran for dear life once he saw what had ‘happened’ to the officer before chaos broke out and ‘looting’ became the order of the day.
It is however important to note that Senior Trial Attorney Anton Steynberg had told the Trial Chamber that the prosecution had been unable to verify the details surrounding the ‘death’ of the police officer.
“Bearing in mind the absence of any identity of the deceased and an exact date of the incident by the witness, the prosecution searched the database of materials received and also open source materials such as press reports et cetera. I can advise that we were not able to find any official records of any such incident,” admitted Steynberg on Thursday.
Witness P0128 further admitted to giving hearsay as part of his testimony.
The witness told the court that he did not see any looting take place even though he had initially testified to it.
He said a third party, whose name he could not remember, called him and told him that large scale looting was being aided by Kalenjin soldiers at the town was taking place.
Witness: According to the people who were coming from that direction, that is what was happening.
Hooper: Oh I see. What about Kalenjin police officers shooting off the locks? Is that something you saw or is it something you heard?
Witness: Yes, Your Honour. That is what the people who were coming from there said.
The witness was also unable to give an estimate of the distance between his current area of residence and that of his parents, where he says he was coming from when he found a rally at which Ruto is alleged to have promised parcels of land to Kalenjins once the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) took power.
