Details of Mr Moreno-Ocampo’s submission to the Pre-Trial Chamber show how the suspects planned and executed what he refers to as a “criminal policy” against civilians.

Their motivation, he says, was to retain or gain power. Some 1,133 people were killed and more than 650,000 evicted from their homes in the wake of the madness that followed Kenya’s disputed 2007 presidential election.

President Kibaki of the Party of National Unity was said to have won the election but his rival, Mr Raila Odinga of the Orange Democratic Movement, disputed the victory saying the poll had been stolen.

Also targeted by Mr Moreno-Ocampo are Kenya’s security forces, whom he accuses of using excessive force against civilians. Mr Moreno-Ocampo says the 20 leading suspects hired, financed and transported gangs to kill, destroy and block roads.

“Many of the political leaders from both sides that incited the attacks are also rich businessmen or land owners and contributed financially to attacks from their own resources,” said Mr Moreno-Ocampo in his submission.

He told judges at The Hague on Wednesday that while PNU used State agencies, their opponents in ODM used criminal gangs to execute their politically motivated schemes.

Mr Moreno-Ocampo has asked the judges, in the 19-page submission, to keep the lists of suspects confidential. Naming the suspects publicly, he says, may prejudice independent investigations and endanger the safety of potential witnesses.

“A precise determination of the extent and nature of the links between the individuals allegedly involved and the public and private organisations utilised to allegedly commit the crimes will be made during the course of an independent investigation by the prosecutor, if authorised,” Mr Moreno-Ocampo tells the judges in his submission.

He adds that Kenyan authorities had not carried out any investigations or prosecutions targeting the 20. The submission, which borrows a lot from the Waki and Kenya National Commission on Human Rights reports, indicts Kenya’s security forces.

The prosecutor says the violence comprised hundreds of incidents with varying degrees of organisation. Inflammatory statements and hate speech disseminated via radio, e-mails, and SMS before the elections were part of the strategy to incite the public, he says.

Tribal networks

PNU and ODM channelled their criminal policy through community structures, he says. The “senior leaders from both parties were guided by political objectives to retain or gain power,” Mr Moreno-Ocampo says, noting that they used personal, government, business and tribal networks to commit the crimes.

The violence, he says, followed a consistent pattern. ODM leaders, he submits, set in motion two parallel attacks to protest against the announcement that President Kibaki had won the elections. “Whereas the party officially called for peaceful mass demonstrations, some influential party leaders especially in the Rift Valley Province launched attacks against civilians perceived to be supporters of PNU,” the document states.

Mr Moreno-Ocampo accuses politicians of being responsible for the expulsion of people from certain areas in the country, leading to displacement of more than 650,000 people. The submission indicates that incitement started during the electoral campaigns and this corresponds to areas where “large-scale attacks were carried out by thousands of raiders”.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Ms Arunga said she has now changed her name officially from Esther Adongo Arunga to Esther Adongo Timberlake. According to her, the exchange of vows took place on Wednesday night after she ‘‘successfully managed to escape from her parents’ house’’.

She announced on Thursday evening, together with her pastor Joseph Hellon, at a press conference held at Runda estate. She also said she is seeking Sh300 million in damages and stated that she will also sue her parents for taking her there.

The former presenter also said that she is suing media houses, seeking a total sum of Sh30 million. According to the papers filed in court on Thursday, Ms Arunga says she was arrested and later released to the custody of her parents without any charges being preferred against her.

She also accuses her parents of subjecting her to a check-up at a psychiatric institution and keeping her in their house against her will. She wants the court to restrain her parents, Dr Robert Arunga and Mrs Petoline Arunga, from interfering with her rights and freedom.

She also wants the court to stop her parents from having any physical control over her. Ms Arunga complains that her personal belongings — including her mobile phone, national identity card, and passport — were confiscated by police, whom she claims were acting under her parents’ instructions.

According to her, the CID officers abused their power through arbitrary arrest and detention. Ms Arunga says she managed to sneak out of her parents’ custody and was now seeking security from the courts by having her parents issued with restraining orders. The case is to be brought before Lady Justice Jeanne Gacheche on Friday.

Meanwhile, an MP has asked the Security minister to tell Parliament under which law police stormed a house in Runda and arrested Finger of God members. Imenti Central’s Gitobu Imanyara also wants the minister to explain how the State determines the right religion and what amounts to a criminal cults.