Sixteen TNA MPs on Thursday sought to mend fences with their URP
colleagues in the Jubilee Coalition after they accused the government
of failing to support Deputy President William Ruto who is on trial at
the International Criminal Court.
Speaking three days
ahead of a prayer meeting to be led by 60 Rift Valley legislators on
Sunday, the TNA MPs said claims that Mr Ruto had been abandoned were
being propagated by a group of URP MPs who are uncomfortable with the
determination by President Uhuru Kenyatta and Mr Ruto to fold the two parties in favour of the Jubilee Alliance Party (JAP) in preparation for the 2017 elections.
On Wednesday, President Kenyatta told TNA and URP leaders to fold their parties, join JAP and share out seats in the new party.
On Monday, Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto are scheduled to receive a confidential report on how the two parties should be merged.
Interestingly, leaders from the Opposition Cord are also meeting in Naivasha this weekend to strategise about the 2017 election.
On
Thursday, the TNA MPs said they would attend Sunday’s prayer meeting
which had been exclusively for elected leaders from the Rift Valley. The
meeting will be held at the edge of the Mau Forest in Kiptoror
Township, Kuresoi South Constituency.
Kiambu Senator
Kimani Wamatangi told a funeral gathering in Lari: “We know where we
have come from (politically) and where we are going.” He was speaking
during the burial of the father of the area MP, Mr Mburu Kahangara.
He
asked Kenya to review its cooperation with International Criminal
Court, saying its change of stance in relation to the Ruto case was
suspicious.
“The Deputy President has faithfully travelled to ICC but the court has continuously changed the rules,” he said.
He
and the other leaders were responding to growing complaints by their
counterparts from the Rift Valley who for the last one week been saying
that the government was no longer fighting Mr Ruto’s case with the zeal
it confronted the charges against President Kenyatta until they were
withdrawn last December.
APPEAL
Two
weeks ago, ICC Trial Chamber judges allowed Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda
to use as evidence statements from hostile witnesses who had recanted
their testimonies. The move is also likely open a window for the
prosecutor to bring fresh charges of witness tampering against Mr Ruto.
His defence team, led by British lawyer Karim Khan, on August 26 asked the court to allow them to appeal against the ruling.
“Given
the evidence’s importance, it will impact on every aspect of the trial
going forward, including the evidence to be addressed in any “no case to
answer” motion, the witnesses to be called in any defence case and the
evidence which may be relied upon in the Article 74 judgement,” Mr Khan
said in the request for leave to appeal.
Mr Katwa
Kigen, who is representing Mr Sang, has also filed a similar request
stating that the decision “is academic and convoluted, with the result
that the ordinary meanings of words and phrases have been twisted to fit
Rule 68 criteria as amended.”
Kericho Senator Charles
Keter — who said that 60 elected leaders from the Rift Valley would hold
the prayer meeting and consultations — said the latest ruling was in
bad faith because Mr Ruto had cooperated with the court.
“We
have been patient, but taking statements of people who were paid and
later withdrew when they were faced with the truth is really
disturbing,” he said.
National Assembly Deputy Speaker
Joyce Laboso also told the government to campaign harder for the crimes
against humanity charges against Mr Ruto and radio presenter Joshua arap
Sang to be dropped.
On Thursday, six MPs from Bomet County repeated the call.
“I
wonder why Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohammed and
Attorney General Githu Muigai are not seriously pushing for the
termination of the case against William compared to what they did in the
previous cases,” said Bomet East MP Bernard Bett, who spoke on behalf
of his colleagues.
—Additional reporting by Wanjiru Macharia and Walter Menya
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