A 2022 Ruto’s Presidential Election Petition Lawyer has requested that the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigate and prosecute Azimio la Umoja leader Raila Odinga in connection with ongoing anti-government protests.
On Friday, July 28, Adrian Kamotho, representing Victims of Maandamano Insurgents (VMI), claimed that his clients bore the brunt of protesters’ crimes.
Kamotho claimed in his letter to ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan that the anti-government protests were motivated by mayhem, vandalism, looting, terror, and property destruction.
“We are instructed to respectfully draw your attention to grave humanitarian atrocities and war crimes committed against our clients that are central to your mandate as defined by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which, among other things, grants the ICC unfettered jurisdiction in relation to crimes of international concern, in addition to national criminal jurisdictions.”
“Our clients are adamant that the time has come for the Office of the Prosecutor to take decisive steps in accordance with Article 15 of the Rome Statute to redress acute humanitarian transgressions and war crimes committed with impunity by Hon. Raila Odinga, a former prime minister,” Kamotho requested.
He also accused former President Uhuru Kenyatta of refusing to retire and pursuing an extremist political agenda.
Kamotho urged Khan to investigate alleged ill motives hidden by the Handshake brothers against the Republic of Kenya, claiming that they devised their sinister plots after losing the August 2022 Presidential Election to President William Ruto.
“After the transition, Kenya experienced a remarkable period of boisterous peace and tranquillity.” However, our clients allege that in the following days, Hon. Raila Amollo Odinga of the Azimio Coalition, in collaboration with Hon. Uhuru Kenyatta, the chairman of the said Coalition, launched a scathing campaign of hatred, disinformation, propaganda, incitement, and violence against the lawfully established Government of the Republic of Kenya.
“What astounds our client is the callous manner in which Odinga and Kenyatta continue to sponsor a wave of terror and deadly violence codenamed Maandamano against innocent citizens and law enforcement agencies,” the letter stated in part.
The letter to ICC lawyer Karim Khan was written just a few days after a lobbying group, Operation Linda Ugatuzi, reported President William Ruto, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki, and Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome to the Hague.
Linda Ugatuzi accused the trio of crimes against humanity on Thursday, July 20, and urged the ICC to investigate and charge them with the destruction of property and the death of innocent civilians.
