Witness: William Ruto okayed displacement of Kikuyus way ahead of 2007 poll

Thursday, October 17th 2013 

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By Felix Olick
The Hague, Netherlands: Deputy President William Ruto was yesterday alleged to have told a crowd in the Rift Valley prior to the 2007 elections to have members of the Kikuyu community removed from the region.
According to the fourth prosecution witness, Mr Ruto — in the company of Rift Valley politician and prominent businessman Jackson Kibor — referred to the Kikuyu as madoadoa (stains), that had to be removed.
“He (Ruto) told the crowd that time had come for the people in that area to show their true colours and do all what is necessary and what is available to make sure the madoadoa are removed,” the witness said of an incident in Eldoret town three months to the polls.
The witness described the deputy president as an influential politician with “a lot of respect” and whose word is law among his Kalenjin community.
“Mr William Samoei arap Ruto is highly regarded. He has a lot of respect and his words are highly regarded by his people,” the witness said during his examination-in-chief yesterday, adding: “If Ruto suggests or if he shows his people where he is heading to, the Kalenjin people take Mr Ruto seriously and normally no one would like to go against his direction.”

Answering questions from Lead Prosecution Counsel Anton Steynberg, the witness said that after Ruto uttered the disparaging words, it became part of day-to-day political discourse in the region.
“After that, people would repeat these words most of the time when they met with Kikuyus or during political discussions,” he explained, adding that the word was used to refer to members of the Kikuyu community who had migrated to Eldoret.
Ruto and journalist Joshua arap Sang face charges of murder, persecution and population displacement.
The wave of violence from December 2007 to early 2008 left 1,100 people dead and displaced 650,000 others from their homes.
The witness described Kibor as an extremely wealthy man who was a staunch supporter of the ODM party during the 2007 presidential campaigns.
He told Trial Chamber V judges that the Kalenjin also referred to the Kikuyu as ‘kwekwe’, which he said translates into ‘weeds growing against plants in the land’.