Eldoret won’t watch The Hague trial in public

By Michael Wesonga

International Criminal Court (ICC) Outreach Co-ordinator for Kenya, Maria Mabinty Kamara, has said Eldoret will be excluded from planned public screenings of the trial at The Hague.

Kamara said they had organised public viewing of the trial facing President Uhuru Kenyatta, his Deputy William Ruto and radio personality Joshua arap Sang.

She told The Standard on Sunday, the screening was to make the process accessible to the affected communities that would otherwise not have gotten the opportunity. “But the plan to screen in Eldoret crashed a few hours ago because of serious concerns we received from local authorities,” she adduced.

The co-ordinator noted that the screening process required a lot of cooperation from local authorities despite their unlimited capacity. “Authorities intimated that there could be relatives of the witnesses, victims of the atrocities or even sympathisers of the accused present at the screenings in Eldoret and thus the process required proper co-ordination of security,” Kamara observed.

She offered that some of the leaders had been urged to take the lead in publicising the process to make it a success. “We want to publicise the event for Kenyans to have a firsthand experience of the symbolic opening and that is why the screening sites have carefully been selected,” she announced.

Kamara also revealed that they intended to provide audio-visual summaries of the trial to partners of the ICC in the country.

On the other hand, Eldoret Deputy Governor Daniel Kiprotich urged residents to maintain peace and follow the proceedings calmly.

“We should engage in more open discussions concerning the process so as to demystify the myths surrounding the process,” he said.

This comes in the midst of several preparatory meetings the court is holding throughout the country to prepare Kenyans on what to expect during the process to avoid surprises.

The official refused to discuss issues of witness withdrawals from the case noting that the court does not discuss witness issues with the media and or public dismissing it as a hindrance to the case.

She added: “Read my lips, they remain ‘alleged witness withdrawal’ because every testimony is treated in confidence and I would not know who a witness is. The Prosecutor said she is ready to start the trial. She has marshaled enough evidence and witnesses both expert and insider witnesses that will be called to testify for this purpose,” she added.