Former ICC witness William Rono has claimed that there is an elaborate plan by ‘powerful individuals’ to revive the case against Deputy President William Ruto in a bid to stop him from vying for the presidency in 2022.
The witness, named Cheranganyi MP Joshua Kutuny as one of those working with State House operatives and ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to revive the case against Ruto before 2022.
Rono spoke to journalists in Eldoret on Thursday, claimed he was among former witnesses who had been approached by Kutuny and “other operatives” to fix the DP by claiming Ruto had interfered with witnesses to cripple the ICC cases.
“I am among three former witnesses approached by Kutuny and Harambee House operatives to go back to ICC and fix the DP over claims of witness tampering,” he said.
“As former witnesses, we have rejected that plan and that is why Kutuny and his colleagues have been coming up with all manner of claims against the DP,” he said.
Rono said the call by a group of MPs for Ruto to be probed over the maize issue was part of a wider scheme to undercut Ruto’s presidential ambitions in 2022.
Kutuny, Nandi Hills MP Alfred Keter and their Moiben counterpart Silas Tiren last week sparked a storm in Rift Valley when they met with farmers in Eldoret and demanded that the DP should be probed over the maize and fertilizer issues.
Rono said the ICC witnesses would give more details on the scheme to fix DP Ruto at the international court. William Ruto’s case at the International Criminal case was dropped due to lack of credible evidence.