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Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto has promised that there will never be political violence again in the east African country, after the International Criminal Court (ICC) ended his trial at the Hague.
Ruto said this during a thanksgiving rally on Saturday in Nakuru, celebrating the collapsed ICC case.
Ruto told both winners and losers of the 2007 post-election violence to forget the chaos that rocked the country. He said the ICC chapter was now closed, Daily Nation reported.
The deputy president said the country had gone through a shameful chapter during the post-election violence.
“Unfortunately innocent people were framed as responsible for what happened. All those events are written in the worst chapter of Kenya’s history,” Ruto was quoted as saying.
Ruto was freed after the ICC said there was insufficient evidence that he was involved in the deadly violence.
Ruto had been charged, alongside journalist Joshua Sang, with murder, deportation and persecution for their alleged leading roles in the violence that left more than 1 000 people dead.
President Uhuru Kenyatta, who led Kenyans in the Saturday celebrations, cautioned leaders against hate speech and incitement.
Kenyatta, whose case at the ICC was dropped last year, said the ordeal he went through was painful. He said, however, that he had no bitterness and had since forgiven his accusers.
“It has been a painful journey for all of us. Many lost life and many properties were destroyed. As leaders, we have said that we will never go back to that route…We would not wish any Kenyan to go through the experience we have had at the ICC,” said Kenyatta.
