Kenya: Eighth Witness in Ruto, Sang ICC Case Says He Was Offered Land to Recant

Nairobi — The eighth witness in the International Criminal Court (ICC) trial against lawyer Paul Gicheru, who is facing witness tampering charges in the Hague-based court, on Tuesday revealed that he was offered money, agricultural land, and a fully constructed house to withdraw his testimony.

The witness who testified in the Ruto and Sang case, said he was first approached by a person whose identity was withheld by the court from the public, who would then introduce him to the people offering the bribe.

“He [Person 19]came to my home and we talked, he was also a witness but he had resigned but I didn’t know why he had resigned,” the witness said.

The witness said they met at location (42) with person (19) and other people identified as P (7), P(31), P (39) and “another person I can’t mention here in public session”.

At location 42, the witness said they discussed how he would be rewarded with the money, land and a house if he withdrew from being a witness in the Ruto and Sang case.

Several witnesses who have testified in the case narrated how they were approached with bribe offers and threats to stop being ICC witnesses.

Gicheru is being accused of playing the role of locating ICC witnesses, approaching them with bribes and in other incidences threatening them.

He is facing 8 charges of witness bribery and intimidation in what the Prosecution said was an attempt to sabotage the case against Deputy President William Ruto and journalist Joshua Arap Sang.

He denied all the charges during the opening of the trial on February 15, 2022.