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The Daily Tar Heel

JOHANNESBURG (MCT) — The International Criminal Court has ordered four powerful politicians in Kenya to stand trial for crimes against humanity, a rare legal challenge to an elite that has long enjoyed impunity in the East African nation.

Two potential candidates in next year’s presidential elections, Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and former Education Minister William Ruto, were among those indicted in connection with the political violence that wracked the country after the 2007 presidential election. The charges included murder and forcible removal of people from their homes.

Cabinet secretary Francis Muthaura and radio executive Joshua Arap Sang face similar charges.
Kenyatta, a close ally to President Mwai Kibaki, is a member of one of Kenya’s influential political dynasties and the son of the country’s first president, Jomo Kenyatta.

He is accused of hiring members of Kenya’s biggest criminal gang, the Munyiki, to kill and rape supporters of Raila Odinga, a 2007 presidential candidate who is now prime minister. Ruto is accused of masterminding attacks on Kibaki supporters, who defeated Odinga in the widely disputed balloting.
Ruto said Monday he would stand for election regardless of the charges.

The trials threaten to unleash tensions between the Kenyan tribes who massacred one another after the 2007 election. However, the international court has charged two men from each side in the conflict: Kenyatta and Muthaura, who is also an ally of Kibaki, will be tried together. A separate trial will be held for Ruto and Sang, both Odinga supporters.

Odinga became prime minister in an uneasy power-sharing deal brokered by the United Nations in the wake of the post-election violence. An estimated 1,500 people died in the ethnic violence that flared after Odinga accused Kibaki, the incumbent, of stealing the election. About 300,000 people fled their homes, some never to return.

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