Whether it is a sincerely heartfelt duty to unshackle an old friend or it is a self-aggrandising political move, only he himself and God above, know. But it is now official, that Raila Odinga will be a defence witness for William Ruto at the ICC.
Sources within ODM revealed that after a series of consultative meetings within Cord’s top hierarchy between Raila allies and Ruto’s emissaries, a deal was finally struck that Raila will see defence witness number one with hopes that his evidence will unclamp Ruto from the ICC grip.
Raila’s acceptance to defend Ruto has enormous political implications on the country’s political terrain and his allies now say they reached at it to first cool down political temperatures which are currently at a boiling point.
Second, Raila calculates that by defending Ruto at The Hague, he will endear himself in Ruto’s Rift Valley political backyard and regain lost clout ahead of 2017 elections. If Raila testifies at The Hague and Ruto is set free, he will convince Ruto’s Kalenjin voters that he was the one who rescued their son from the jaws of a crocodile and saved him from being jailed.
