The source said the prosecution was intent on starting the case with the Kiambaa church killings to offer a powerful beginning to the trial because the burning of the church shook the world and was reminiscent of the Rwanda genocide.

This, according to well-placed sources, was the approach the prosecution was keen on taking — that the Kiambaa attack was planned Rwanda style — to give the trial of Mr Ruto and Mr Sang a powerful, emotive start.

However, it turned out that the three witnesses had lied and further investigations were pointing to a scenario that the Kiambaa arson was the work of hooligans who could not be easily linked to Mr Ruto.

“The prosecution now believes that the attackers were mainly young men who seemed to have acted spontaneously ... it may not have been a planned assault,” the source said.

According to Ms Bensouda’s case plan, the first three were to be “insider witnesses” who had taken part in the crime but had taken a plea bargain only to withdraw just before the trial started.