Months of hell over hate SMS that never was

"How could detectives be so naïve as to think I sent out hate messages against the Kikuyu, through a Kikuyu, yet I’m even married to one?”

That must have been the question in Emmanuel Siundu Waya’s mind one sunny morning soon after he received a call from somebody claiming he had a letter for him.

He agreed to meet the caller at a hotel on Moi Avenue, Nairobi. Little did he know he was beginning seven months of hell on earth.

The caller turned out to be two smartly dressed men who identified themselves as policemen. One, Inspector Jeremiah Kiao, would be the lead investigator.

His accusation? He had sent out a hate SMS disparaging the Kikuyu and President Kibaki on December 30, 2007, the day after President Kibaki was declared the winner by the ECK chairman Samuel Kivuitu.

He allegedly urged other communities to gang up and wipe out “the Kikuyu mafia”.

He was led to CID headquarters on Kiambu Road, where the officers tried coercing him to concede the message was from him, but he refused to budge.

Mr Waya claimed the officers lied they knew him, where he lived and his workplace. Mr Waya works at a five-star hotel in Nairobi, but the officers mentioned a different place.

They were also wrong about where he lived, insisting it was Buru Buru. He was remanded at Muthaiga station.

The following morning, January 9, the officers promised he would be charged. But he was not taken to court, as the two still pressed him to concede “to ease our job”.

And because of his “arrogance” he was to spend three days in custody. The officers had confiscated his mobile phone and other valuables. He was finally released on a free bond on the fourth day.

Meanwhile, the officers had randomly retrieved three numbers and called the owners. According to Mr Waya, the officers tried coercing the trio, who were his workmates, into implicating him. “They refused because it was a lie,” he said.

Mr Waya was told he would appear before a magistrate on January 13. He presented himself for charges to be read against him, but his name was not called.

Inspector Kiao was nowhere. Mr Waya inquired from the prosecutor and was told his file was probably still with police.

He went to Muthaiga, where the officers said they were not in a hurry to charge him. “I was instead asked to present myself at Muthaiga daily at 10am,” he said.

He did so for three days only to miss the officer he was supposed to report to.

On complaining, Mr Waya was told to stop going, that the police would come for him when needed. He went back to his work and was immediately dispatched to Zanzibar on assignment.

While there, police called him, accusing him of being on the run. “They said my passport number had been circulated, and that I would be arrested on arrival at the JKIA,” he said.