POLICE officers protected Kalenjin youths
who were responsible for the attacks on
Kikuyus in the Rift Valley, an ICC witness
said yesterday.
The witness said that when Kikuyus went
to seek help from the police, they were
told that they were facing the
consequences of voting for Kibaki.
Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda's
seventh witness yesterday said that police
guarded lorries that were used to ferry
cows that had been stolen from Kikuyu
homesteads.
The witness, who was presenting his
testimony for the second day, said that
police watched as people were attacked
and killed during the violence following
the December 27 election.
He described how a Yamumbi resident
was slashed as police officers watched.
"He was cut in the presence of policemen
and taken away by a driver but he was in
a very poor state. His intestines were
falling out and by the time the driver got
him to the hospital he had died. Police
also watched as houses were burnt and
looted," the witness said.
He said they were a safe distance away
and the Nandis shouted at them to collect
the body. They only went there after the
attackers left the scene.
He recounted how people identified as
number 8, number 9 and number 10 were
mercilessly cut into pieces by Nandis.
"Number nine had other people with him
but his clothes got stuck on a barbed wire
as he was trying to flee into the Langas
area. The attackers caught number 9 and
cut the body into pieces. That person
died instantly," explained the witness.
The Kalenjin youth were armed with
machetes, bows and arrows, and
sharpened sticks and were ferried in ten
lorries to the area, according to the
witness.
"At the time I did not know who the
lorries belonged to. Later, I was told to
the lorries belonged to some rich
individuals. I heard that one of the rich
people who was the proprietor of the
lorries was Mr Maiyo," the witness said.
The witness said that Maiyo, who has
since passed away, was close to Deputy
President William Ruto and the two were
were present at planning meetings.
"Maiyo lived at the top of one hill in
Yamumbi and he was very rich. Every
time there was a political meeting in the
area he would be informed and he would
attend," the witness said.
His testimony only touched on Ruto and
he did not mention the co-accused Joshua
Sang. Witness Seven will be cross-
examined by Ruto's defence lawyers
today.
He said that Administration Police officers
attached to the local chief's camp
guarded Maiyo's compound
He alleged that Maiyo's house housed the
Kalenjin youths who attacked and burned
houses in the area on December 30 and
31, 2007.
"The police also escorted the lorries
which were carrying the cows that had
been stolen. The cows were taken to
Maiyo's home," the witness said.
The same police officers watched the
burning of houses in Muiruti shopping
centre without taking any action, he said.
The witness said that another person was
killed in the presence of two policemen
who had accompanied him to ward off
attackers who had invaded his home.
"I think the police officers were Kalenjin
because I had them speak Nandi and I
understand the language. We would see
police officers on a daily basis but this did
not mean that violence was contained,"
the witness said.
The witness said that on the first night,
the attackers burnt his house and about
ten others. On the second day, the
attackers returned and burnt down
another estimated 300 houses.
"I was hiding but they could not see me.
I hid there until they left. The whole
house was on fire when I got back," the
witness said.
According to the witness, Nandi youths
took the galvanised roofing sheets that
were not badly damaged.
"After the conflict I saw that some houses
had been built using roofing sheets that
had been taken away from the burnt
down ruins. Some people had even tried
to paint them but it was still visible,” he
said.