Deputy President William Ruto has been linked to the murder of the key ICC witness, the late Meshack Yebei according to new evidence.
New details have emerged placing the late Yebei at the center of a strategy group that worked to scuttle Deputy President William Ruto’s case at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The Daily Nation reported that lawyer Paul Gicheru who surrendered to ICC on November 2, 2020, was revealed to have met Yebei, and together they tried to influence the case against the DP.
According to documents presented in court and signed by ICC deputy prosecutor James Stewart, Gicheru and Ruto knew each other very well having schooled together at Kapsabet Boys High School.
Court documents indicate that Gicheru coordinated the plan with Amaco Insurance chairman Silas Kibet Simatwo and Isaac Maiyo, who was an employee of Ruto during his time as Eldoret North MP.
Yebei who was a key witness at ICC was murdered before he could take the stand to testify against DP Ruto and journalist Joshua Arap Sang who were accused of crimes against humanity in the 2007/2008 post-election violence.
He disappeared on December 28, 2014, in Uasin Gishu county and his mutilated body was found at the Man-Eaters area in Tsavo National Park three days later.
The prosecution told the court that it has gathered enough evidence to prove Ruto used the money to bribe witnesses so that they could not testify against him.
“The evidence establishes that the pattern of witness interference was conducted for the benefit of, and in coordination with, William Samoei Ruto,” read the court papers
According to the filing by the prosecution to the court, DP Ruto is directly linked to the scheme that sabotaged the proceedings of his case that led to his acquittal.
The Deputy President is looking at a jail term of 5 years for every count if the prosecutions prove its case before the ICC judges.
