ICC witness ‘can’t remember’ much

NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 29 – The sixth prosecution
witness against Deputy President William Ruto
and radio personality Joshua arap Sang spent
his morning session on Tuesday, telling the
International Criminal Court that he couldn’t
remember most of the details he was being
asked.
The witness only identified as P0268 kept using
‘I can’t recall’ as a response to most of his
questions forcing prosecution lawyer Lucio
Garcia to cut short the interrogation process
and call for a private session.
According to his statement, the witness had said
that he attended two rallies- one in Nandi Hills and
the other in Kapsabet but he changed this narration
saying he did not want to limit himself to those two
rallies.
He added that he attended the Nandi Hills rally on
the eve of the 2005 referendum and also after the
referendum but could not remember what exactly
was said.
Lawyer: Do you know the month when the rally
took place?
Witness P0268: It was during the eve of
referendum and after the referendum. I can’t
remember the exact date and month.
Lawyer: What month was the referendum?
Witness: I don’t remember.
The witness also said that the rally at Nandi Hills
took place at the Nandi Hills stadium while the one
in Kapsabet took place at the Kapsabet stadium.
Witness: I remember a rally at the stadium.
Lawyer: What was the name of the stadium?
Witness: Nandi Hills stadium. That is what I know it
as.
Lawyer: Do you remember where exactly the
Kapsabet rally took place?
Witness: At the Kapsabet stadium.
He also said that former Prime Minister Raila
Odinga, Ruto and former Deputy Prime Minister
Musalia Mudavadi were present at the rallies and
that English, Kiswahili, and the ‘local language’ were
used in the speeches.
According to his initial statement to the Court, the
words ‘madoadoa’ and ‘kwekwe’ were used in the
rallies but on Tuesday he told the Court that he
could not remember what the reaction of the
crowd was when these words were used.
Lawyer: Yesterday you said that you heard
madoadoa and kwekwe in the rallies. When
politicians used these words, what was the reaction
of the crowd?
Witness: I can’t remember.
And while the witness also told the Court that he
could not remember what exactly Ruto and
Mudavadi said, he explained that Odinga used the
rally to ask people not to support the 2005 draft
Constitution.
He also said that Odinga spoke in the luo language
during the rally.
Things got a bit murky for the witness when the
lawyer asked him if he could remember whether or
not Mudavadi made a speech and he responded by
saying ‘he must have made a speech but I can’t
remember the details of the speech’.
Trial Chamber V(a) Presiding Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji
told the witness that his response to the question
was not helping the Court and that he should either
say that Mudavadi made a speech or that he did not
make a speech.
“Do not tell us that he must have. We want your
answer to be responsive to the question. He may
have made a speech or may be not. It does not
help us to tell us that he must have,” warned the
Judge.
But after the private session, the witness seemed
to have styled up a bit and gave better responses
to questions.
And although he stuck to the name ‘Kapsabet
Stadium’, he said that it might also be known as the
Kipchoge Keino stadium.
He further told the Court that the rally was highly
publicised on KASS FM and other channels but he
could not remember which presenter broadcasted
it.
According to the witness, thousands attended this
rally and they were mostly Kalenjins, Luhyas and
Luos.
His testimony continues

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