DEPUTY President William Ruto begins the fight of his life at the ICC tomorrow in what will be a make or break battle for his political career.
Ruto is seeking an acquittal without having to mount a defence – a laborious process that would be likely to distract the DP's focus on the 2017 presidential contest.
Together with his co-accused Joshua Sang he will be in The Hague courtroom from tomorrow until Friday, to orally argue why the case should be terminated at this stage.
The oral arguments are meant to buttress Ruto's 95-page written submissions in which he accuses Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda of seeking to nail him on a “case built almost entirely on hearsay”.
Ruto's legal strategy is to discredit Bensouda's case, which he insists stands on unreliable witnesses, poor investigations and irrational conclusions.
He says for example the ICC failed to prove the existence of a multifaceted network composed of political, media, financial, tribal and military components whose aim was to expel the Kikuyu from the Rift Valley.
“The organization dubbed the 'Network' by the OTP [Office of The Prosecutor] is the keystone of the case . . . Without it, the case must fail,” Ruto argues.
But in her 140-page rebuttal, Bensouda maintained Ruto’s trial cannot be terminated because she has presented enough evidence to convict both the DP and Sang.
“The Prosecution submits that the evidence presented, taken at its highest, is sufficient to satisfy a reasonable Trial Chamber that the Prosecution has proved all of the essential elements required to secure a conviction of both accused. Accordingly, the Defence Motions should be dismissed,” Bensouda said.
If the no-case-to-answer motion is rejected, Ruto will be a man under siege.
He will have to face the 2017 polls as a suspect with the ICC Sword of Damocles still hanging over his head.
The trial will also be a distraction to the high-octane campaign politics that have already begun 18 months to the polls.
However, should the judges terminate the charges, Ruto's political star is likely to shine even brighter.
He will not have the ICC baggage and will be free to hit the campaign trail to market President Uhuru Kenyatta's re-election with his own eyes trained on the 2022 polls and the succession.