President Uhuru speaks of his lowest ICC moment: When the news broke

President Uhuru Kenyatta spoke for the first time about his lowest moment in his ICC case.

Uhuru told the Star his lowest moment was the day ICC prosecutor, then Luis Moreno Ocampo, announced that he was among the six suspects wanted for sponsoring and organising the 2007-08 post-election violence.

"I was signing agreements with the Japanese ambassador for some major infrastructure projects for Kenya when I was informed about the news," he said during an interview in Brussels, Belgium.

On December 15, 2010, Ocampo disclosed names of the "most responsible" people for the violence. Kenyatta, then Deputy Prime Minister and Finance minister, was among them.

Others were William Ruto, then ODM deputy leader; Joshua Sang, then radio presenter; Francis Muthaura, then head of Public Service; Henry Kosgey, then ODM chairman; and former Police Commissioner Hussein Ali.

Ocampo put stringent restrictions on the six. They included bans on contacting other accused persons and contacting or intimidating witnesses. He mandated them to frequently update the ICC about their whereabouts.

"I felt it was better to stop what I was doing at the time and, instead, go and watch television. It is part of life. There will be challenges. My happiness is that we have moved forward," the President said.

Kenyatta has been very sensitive on the ICC issue. It is understood he felt bad about it because, he believes he went out of his way to stop the violence.

"Kenya should never be taken back to that place again," the President added.

The "Ocampo Six" were accused of organising violence following the disputed December 27, 2007, elections. Both the ruling PNU of Mwai Kibaki and ODM of Raila Odinga claimed victory.

Some 1,200 people were killed and more than 500,000 others displaced from their homes.

In September 2015, the court's chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, announced she was shelving the prosecution of Kenyatta. She said the case could not proceed because the government would not cooperate.

"The President spent hours and lots of personal money on lawyers. He fought to prove his innocence," one of the lawyers who worked on his case said. One of Uhuru's aides said he was firm against advice to ignore the court.

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