CID Wants ICC Witness 4 Identified in a Probe Targeting Makau Mutua

By Mwakilishi | Tue, 05/22/2012 10:49AM -0400

CID director Ndegwa Muhoro/FILE

The Criminal Investigations Department now wants the identity of an alleged International Criminal Court witness who was filmed retracting his evidence verified. The department has written to Attorney General Githu Muigai seeking his help to ascertain whether James Maina Kabutu is indeed ICC witness 4 as claimed. The details are being sought in a probe targeting university scholar Makau Mutua who is accused of harassing anti-ICC activist David Matsanga. Matsanga has accused Mutua of harassment in articles published in the Sunday Nation in March 2012. In the articles, Mutua had complained that there was interference with ICC witnesses and argued that witness 4 was coerced to retract his evidence. The CID now wants to know what role Mutua plays in the ICC, after claiming that in 2010, he trained ICC prosecutors involved in the Kenya case. Muhoro states in his letter that his department is investigating if Matsanga or Mutua had in any way interfered with an ICC witness or witnesses in their publications. The allegation was first raised in Mutuas publications one of them titled Did Key Ocampo witness recant his testimony? which was published on in the Sunday Nation of March 11, 2012 and the second one titled How they tampered with Ocampo Witness published in the Sunday Nation of March 18, 2012. In his first article, Mutua stated that Kabutu was ICC prosecution witness 4 currently in protective custody in USA and that the he had travelled to Kenya from Swaziland on a UN Diplomatic passport under the name Peter Karanja so as to testify before the Waki Commission. He went on to state that Kabutu had lied on oath either before the Waki Commission or the ICC or lied on oath in his deposition. In the second article, Mutua said Kabutu had recanted his testimony before CIPEV under duress. He accused two officials of the then Kenya National Commission on Human Rights of bribing and threatening Kabutu to elicit a recantation and claimed there were what he termed as dark forces out to scuttle the Hague trials of the Ocampo four. The CID concludes that from both articles, it is apparent that Mutua has either been involved with Kabutu from early 2008 to present or is at least privy to matters concerning him. We are investigating this matter and would like to interview Matsanga, Mutua and others who may have useful information on this matter, the CID director said in the letter in which he clarifies that such information would assist us to address the complaint raised by the Office of the Prosecutor.

The CID director wants the AG to seek answers from the ICC Prosecution office in The Hague on the nature of contacts Makau has had with witness 4 who is said to have testified against Kenyas deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and former Head of the Civil Service Francis Muthaura in Case Two. The CID would be interested to know the nature of any contacts Mutua may have had with this person, the context of any such contacts and whether in the course of any such contacts, a crime or crimes under the International Crimes Act may have been committed, Muhoro states in his letter. This prompted Matsanga through his lawyer to write a formal complaint to the CID, accusing Mutua of interfering with the ICC cases and defaming him. Mutua when summoned to record a statement, instead sent his lawyer Paul Muite who urged police to use other avenues in a defamation case instead of harassing his client. Muite has advised his client Mutua against travelling to Kenya to record statements with the police over Matsangas complaint. Source: Capital FM