Another ICC witness against Ruto steps down

By Isaiah Lucheli

Nairobi, Kenya: A second International Criminal Court (ICC) witness has withdrawn his evidence against Deputy President William Ruto.

The witness withdrew his testimony in an affidavit sent to ICC prosecutor.

This is the second witness to step down against the Deputy President. The first witness stepped down in March.

Through lawyer Paul Gicheru, the first witness to step down wrote to the ICC prosecutor withdrawing each and every piece of evidence attributed to him and asked to have his name removed from the list of the prosecution witnesses.

The witness in a sworn affidavit explains that during the 2007 general election he was a PNU official but after election he was induced and enticed to be a witness of the ICC. Ruto was one of the ODM pentagon members.

“I have never personally visited any of the homes of William Ruto and I did not witness any event and cannot vouch for the truth or otherwise of any allegation that has been made or attributed to me against him,” said the witness in the affidavit.

He further claimed in the affidavit that he was promised that he would be rewarded and settled either in Europe, America or Australia if he testified before the ICC and that his standard of living would improve tremendously.