The Rift Valley Council of Elders has called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to immediately withdraw the case against Deputy President William Ruto.
The elders claimed that the case was built on falsehoods and warned it may cause conflict in the country if it was not withdrawn.
In a statement read on their behalf by Samuel Maigua, the elders alleged that the ICC cases were maliciously set up to bar President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto from standing in the 2013 election.
“Kenyans knew that the cases were political whose real intention was to deny President Kenyatta and Mr Ruto a chance to contest for the country’s presidency and deputy presidency, respectively,” he said.
‘AVERT CHAOS’
Mr Maigua said the elders were calling on the United Nations to exert pressure on the ICC to withdraw the remaining cases against Mr Ruto and former radio broadcaster Joshua arap Sang.
“We know the cases against Mr Ruto and Mr Sang will collapse because it is now evident that they were built on falsehoods and we are urging the ICC to withdraw them early to avert chaos,” he said.
Mr Maigua also asked the ICC to withdraw from Kenya’s affairs, saying the Constitution gives elders the authority to mediate in disputes and they were resolving issues related to the 2007-2008 post-election violence at the community level.
“We are resolving our issues through forgiveness, peace and (reconciliation) by engaging all the stakeholders, among them the Provincial Administration, the Department of Special Programmes and the National Cohesion and Integration Commission,” he said.
The elders warned leaders against politicising the collapse of the ICC case against President Kenyatta, saying the matter, if politicised, might cause conflict in the country.
On December 5, ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda withdrew charges against President Kenyatta, just two days after the Trial Chamber directed Ms Bensouda to either proceed with the case within a week or withdraw it.
Mr Kenyatta joins Mr Francis Muthaura, Mr Henry Kosgey and Mr Hussein Ali in being let off the hook because of insufficient evidence, leaving only Mr Ruto and Mr Sang in the dock.
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