Uhuru Kenyatta In New York USA |
The individuals are claiming to have been evicted by the Mungiki from Naivasha and Nakuru, with some saying they contracted HIV-Aids after they were gang-raped.
"One of the victims stated that she was gang-raped by three men who also beat her and knocked out all her front teeth. As a result of the attack, the victim reported that her husband abandoned her and she is now forced to reside in a church compound," the court was told yesterday.
Victims' lawyer Fergal Gaynor told the judges 230 new applications were vetted before the admission of the 154 from Migori, Kisumu, Siaya, Busia and Vihiga counties.
"According to the information available to the Registry, the total number of victims verified as within the scope of the Case by the Common Legal Representative now stands at 725," he said in his report.
Gaynor said 21 victims from Migori, 58 from Kisumu and 21 from Siaya are all from the Luo community while 18 from Busia and 36 from Vihiga are from Luo, Teso and Luhya communities.
Uhuru is accused of having mobilised and financed Mungiki to carry out revenge attacks against ODM supporters in the Rift Valley during the 2007-08 post-election violence.
He is facing crimes against humanity charges but his case has stalled due to lack of sufficient evidence, according to Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda. Gaynor said all of the victims in this group lost their sources of income during the violence and continue to struggle to make ends meet.
Some of them are struggling with medical problems and are not receiving any support from the government and the state is discriminating them due to their ethnicity.
"One of the victims was a tailor before the violence and had his working arm cut off. The CLR reported that he has since adapted and learned to sew with his left hand yet he has never received proper medical attention or any financial support from the government," reads Gaynor's report.
Source: The Star