You’re a liar, Ruto defence lawyer tells witness

PHOTO | DPPS Deputy President William Ruto (centre), his wife Rachel Ruto (second left) and Radio journalist Joshua arap Sang (second right) in prayer before going into the ICC court room on January 20, 2014 in The Hague, Netherlands. Ruto’s defence team Thursday dismissed the testimony of the ninth prosecution witness, saying it was riddled with lies.   NATION

In Summary

• Mr Khan said the witness first asked to go through his testimony on January 6 and spent the rest of the days either going through it himself or with the assistance of the prosecution.
• Mr Khan gave an example of how the witness “misled” the court that Koitalel arap Samoei, who led the Nandi rebellion against the British, was killed by the Kalenjin.

By DAVE OPIYO
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Deputy President William Ruto’s defence team Thursday dismissed the testimony of the ninth prosecution witness, saying it was riddled with lies.

Lead lawyer Karim Khan alleged that witness P-0356 this year spent considerable time going over his testimony before the trial resumed to cram it and not give a true account of what happened.

Mr Khan said the witness first asked to go through his testimony on January 6 and spent the rest of the days either going through it himself or with the assistance of the prosecution.

The last time he re-read the transcripts, according to the lawyer, was on January 14.

WHAT TOOK PLACE

Said the lawyer Friday when he began cross examining the witness: “Between January 6 and 10, you spent lots of hours going through the transcripts yourself. You then spent more than seven hours going through it with the prosecution and answering questions. On January 14, you re-read the transcripts again for half the day.”

He went on: “The reason you expressed interest in getting access to the transcripts is that you were trying to remember a false story instead of recalling what took place.”

In response, the witness said: “It is not true your owner.”

Mr Khan gave an example of how the witness “misled” the court that Koitalel arap Samoei, who led the Nandi rebellion against the British, was killed by the Kalenjin.

“The fact of the matter is that Koitalel was actually beheaded by the British, by an individual known as Col Richard Meinertzhagen,” he said.

“The other thing is that he was not a king as the witness puts it. He was indeed the first freedom fighter in Kenya against colonial oppression.”

Earlier on, the defence of journalist Joshua arap Sang, who is accused with Mr Ruto, and the witness were engaged in a heated debate over when the Kalenjin council of elders was established.

The witness had said the council was established before 2007 for political reasons including to help propel Deputy President William Ruto to the country’s top seat.

Mr Sang’s lawyer Katwa Kigen played audio clips of his client’s morning show including one that was recorded on September 18, 2009, to prove the witness wrong.