I hope Dr Ruto will appoint Singoei to serve in top echelon of his administration
The Mt Kenya Times 
President William Ruto
By: Joseph Mutua Ndonga
Worth Noting:
- Raila camp reportedly wanted the ICC to take up the cases immediately because of two reasons. First, this was meant to annoy and teach President Kibaki a lesson. This is because they believed he had stolen Raila’s victory. Three of Kibaki’s confidantes and top aides were six Kenyans charged.
- Well, one may ask. Why would Raila camp would do this considering that Ruto was one of their key allies in ODM during the campaigns?
- Well, many argued that Raila team had opted to use all the cards at their disposal to have their way. So, they won’t mind sacrificing him.
During the hearings of the high-profile Kenyan cases filed before the International Criminal Court [ICC], I worked closely with lawyer Korir Singoei, a top legal adviser of then Deputy President [DP] William Ruto.
He came to know me because of my nature of my work as a writer on matters of national importance. Then, hardly a week passed without a writing article in the mainstream print media during which I denounced the charges leveled against the incoming President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto.
I always argued that the cases had been built on shaky ground and hence lacked sufficient evidence. Prosecutor Moreno Ocampo did not personally conduct the investigations as required by the law. He instead relied on the information from some civil society groupings who worked in cahoots with well-known political rivals of the duo.
The ultimate goal was to use these ‘cases’ to stop them from running for presidency. The card, however, backfired when the Judges of ICC ruled in favor of UhuRuto candidature.
The principle of presumption of innocence until proven guilty is cardinal. It is well captured in Rome Statute that created this court, the ICC. So, the duo are free to run for political office if they so wished.
In my articles, I also used to pose; why was the prosecutor in a hurry to file these ‘cases’? ICC is a court of last resort. It therefore means it can only handle cases of criminal nature that a member state had turned its back on. The Kenyan situation had not reached this point.
Seemingly, President Mwai Kibaki and some of his allies wanted the local courts to handle this matter. However, the other faction led by ODM leader Raila Odinga, who had been elevated to the newly created position of Prime Minister, objected.
Raila camp reportedly wanted the ICC to take up the cases immediately because of two reasons. First, this was meant to annoy and teach President Kibaki a lesson. This is because they believed he had stolen Raila’s victory. Three of Kibaki’s confidantes and top aides were six Kenyans charged.
Well, one may ask. Why would Raila camp would do this considering that Ruto was one of their key allies in ODM during the campaigns?
Well, many argued that Raila team had opted to use all the cards at their disposal to have their way. So, they won’t mind sacrificing him.
They wanted Kibaki to leave State House and surrender power to Raila. This card failed. The second card was to force for creation of ‘nusu mkate’ government and Raila become the PM. This card worked.
Well, my position on ICC landed me in trouble. The top leadership of civil society/ human rights groupings where I used to work hatched a plot to kick me out.
We have lately been reading your opinion pieces and one thing is clear. You have abandoned us and cause of struggle. We no longer need you. I remained unbowed and that action emboldened my position of pushing for the withdrawal of the ICC charges and unconditional release of UhuRuto.
It is bacuse of my conviction in this cause coupled with my talent of writing that made lawyer Singoei to enlist me as one of the key defenders of Dr Ruto, now the President of the republic of Kenya.
He hosted me two times at his office located at Harambee House Annex. In one of them ahead of the meeting of the ICC assembly of state parties, he asked me. Do you have a passport? He wanted me to attend this meeting.
As a former member of civil society, I would expect you to make a good presentation touching on why you fell out with leaders of civil society. We were upbeat when a few weeks later Dr Ruto was acquitted. This happened before the trip. I was contented because I was not looking forward to fly to The Hague in Netherland for leisure or as a joy-rider.
Yes, Singoei championed and religiously stood for Dr Ruto’s cause at ICC. This, however, is not the only reason why I’m rooting for his appointment to serve in the top echelon of President’s administration. I realized he has so many other good qualifications particularly in the fields of academic, meritocracy, experience.
He is also a humble, down-earth person and his ideals resonated very well with the wishes and aspirations of ordinary Kenyans. Besides, he is young, a nationalist, and workaholic and wore the hat of courage and determination. He is also a good listener and respects one’s opinion.
So if considered, this is a leader who will help Dr Ruto to meet his expectations of uplifting the living standards of the ‘hustlers’ in a big way. I wish him well.
Joseph Mutua Ndonga is a writer and political commentator based in Nairobi
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