The 9th witness currently on the stand at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has told the trial chamber. ICC Witness blames Ruto for his position during the violence, saying William Samoei Ruto was in a position to influence stoppage of violence during the 2008 post-election violence.
The witness told the court today that the clashes would not have continued. This could have been avoided if the Deputy President had intervened in good time. ICC Witness blames Ruto for not acting sooner.
The witness is on the box testifying against Deputy President William Ruto and former journalist Joshua arap Sang.
He told the judges that Ruto was respected by the Kalenjin Community and his instructions were followed.
According to the witness, the community’s respect for the Deputy President was the reason for the ceasefire. It occurred when the deputy called for peace on Citizen TV in January 2008. Thus, the ICC witness blames Ruto for his delayed call for peace.
By Diana Kariuki
-citizennews.co.ke
What the claim is / what the evidence says
A witness in the ICC trial, designated P‑0356, testified that William Samoei Ruto (then a political leader among the Kalenjin) had the ability to influence when the post‑election violence (PEV) ceased in early 2008.
Specifically, the witness said that once Ruto called for peace—on radio (KASS FM) and television (Citizen TV)—some calm was restored in Rift Valley, including removal of roadblocks that had been put during the violence.
However, the witness also said that Ruto’s call came “too late”: if he had intervened “as soon as the fighting started,” then the scale of the violence might have been much more limited.
So the claim is not that Ruto caused the violence, but that he delayed in acting to try to stop it, and that acting sooner might have prevented a lot of harm.
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