Deputy President William Ruto has withdrawn a Sh5 Million appeal that he had filed challenging a ruling that compelled him to pay Sh5 Million to an Internally Displaced Person (IDP), Adrian Muteshi.
DP Ruto withdrew the three-year appeal on Wednesday after he was slapped with the Sh5 Million fine by the High Court for unlawfully possessing 100 acres belonging to Mr Muteshi in Uasin Gishu County.
Muteshi, 70, had moved to the High Court accusing Ruto of evicting his farm workers during the 2007-08 post-election violence and forcefully possessing his 100-acre piece of land.
The DP, however, had argued that he had purchased the land from a third party, Dorothy Yator, who had acquired the land from Muteshi.
A position refuted by Muteshi who told the court that he had fled his land in 2008 at the height of the post-election violence.
The presiding judge, Justice Rose Ougo, however, ruled that Mr Muteshi was the rightful owner of the land and ordered Ruto to vacate the farm.
Justice Ougo further ordered that Ruto should pay a Sh5 Million compensation to Muteshi for fraudulently acquiring the land.
"I order the deputy president to pay 5 million shillings to the farmer as compensation ... I conclusively find that Muteshi is the owner of the land.
"From the evidence before me, it is clear that there were fraudulent activities in the manner the land was sub-divided and sold," Justice Ougo said in her judgment.
Ruto's lawyer Katwa Kigen had however vowed to appeal the decision.
It is not clear why Deputy President William Ruto withdrew the case and if the compensation had been paid.
