The court held a special hearing on Monday to review the case against Kenya’s President-elect.

The International Criminal Court at The Hague in The Netherlands yesterday, March 18, 2013 held a special hearing to review the case against the recently elected President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta.

He had earlier been accused of instigating violence after the disputed 2007 poll in his country.

His lawyers argued that the case against Kenyatta was now compromised following the dropping of charges last week against one of his co-accused, Francis Muthaura. ICC Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda had explained that the case was dropped because some witnesses were too scared to testify, while another had recanted his statement. But at yesterday’s hearing, Bensouda argued that she had additional evidence against Uhuru Kenyatta. His lawyers meanwhile prayed the court to send his case back to the pre-trial chamber for judges to assess what remains of the evidence - and decide whether it is substantial enough to justify a trial.

In the aftermath of the election in December 2007, more than 1,000 people were killed and about 600,000 left homeless. Both Kenyatta and his running mate, Vice President-elect, William Ruto, were indicted for their alleged role in the post-election violence. Far from being a handicap, their indictment on crimes against humanity seemed to have had the opposite effect. Instead, it helped to galvanise their supporters, giving the already formidable machinery of Kenyatta’s coalition the edge, said a commentary in Kenya’s Daily Nation newspaper.

Uhuru Kenyatta, 51, was proclaimed President on March 9, 2013 after an outright win in the first round with 50.07 per cent of the votes, against 43.31 per cent for his main rival, Prime Minister Raila Odinga, 68. Odinga has since challenged the win at the Supreme Court.