Kenya's suspended cabinet minister William Ruto was cleared of corruption charges on Tuesday by the High Court, removing one of the cases that could have foiled his bid to run for the presidency. Ruto, who was suspended from his higher education portfolio to fight the charges, is also one of six suspects named by the International Criminal Court (ICC) as being behind the bloodshed that followed a disputed December 2007 election.
Ruto, who appeared at the ICC in The Hague last Thursday, has declared his intention to run for the top post in east Africa's biggest economy in elections due in 2012. Ruto declined to answer when reporters asked him if he would accept reappointment to the cabinet. He said the charges were politically motivated.
"This is a great day for us. We have carried this burden and baggage for the last eight years ... The truth has come out," Ruto told reporters outside the court. "This case was doomed to fail from the word go because it was not about criminal justice it was about political persecution."
Member of parliament Sammy Mwaita and former President Daniel arap Moi's aide Joshua Kulei were also acquitted. The three faced fraud charges relating to the sale of land in the Ngong forest near the capital. "I find the evidence adduced by the prosecution does not support the charges, and I therefore find they have no prima facie case to be put on their defence," Nairobi Chief Magistrate Gilbert Mutembei said in his ruling.
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