How the ICC charges turned my world upside down

The entire country was pregnant with expectation. National attention was trained on then International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo to reveal the names of people suspected to have perpetrated the 2007/2008 violence. It was a tense moment.

And such an announcement would usually trigger considerable activity in newsrooms with journalists planning on how best to tell the big story.

That is how radio journalist Joshua arap Sang ended up in Naivasha. The head of operations at Kass FM spent a day to the event of the Ocampo announcement in a strategy meeting.

Being the host of popular political breakfast show Leen Nee Emet (Kalenjin for “what does the nation say?”), Mr Sang was a household name.

The Kass FM journalists in Naivasha had a list of whom they thought would be in Ocampo’s list. They never, in their wildest imagination, thought that one of them would be on the list.

“We thought it should be only ministers, politicians and top ranking officials in government,” recalls Sang, now a pale shadow of the bubbly, jovial and energetic radio host.

He says his world was shattered when the prosecutor mentioned his name together with five others. In a dramatic turn of events, Kass journalists at the retreat found themselves writing about one of their own.

ROGUE COMPANY

And from that ominous Wednesday on December 15, 2010, his life would never be the same again. He was devastated. Suddenly, his entire world had literally turned upside down.

Within no time, Mr Sang’s name was in the airwaves across the world alongside those of Mr Uhuru Kenyatta, then a deputy prime minister; former Industrialisation minister Henry Kosgey; Mr William Ruto, then Education minister; the Head of Civil Service and Secretary to the Cabinet at the time Francis Muthaura, and former Commissioner of Police Hussein Ali. The ICC has since dropped charges against four, except for Mr Sang and Mr Ruto.

Back at home, his wife was waiting for him to clarify his being in the list, hoping what she had heard was a bad dream.

She broke down in tears when Mr Sang informed her that he was now a suspect of gross crimes and would stand in the dock in a global court.

The announcement had effectively put the son of peasant farmers from Kitale in the league of ICC suspects such as Congolese warlords Thomas Lubanga, Bosco Ntaganda, Germain Katanga, Uganda’s Joseph Kony and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.

A section of the media described him as “the small man caught up in big company.”

He and his wife had tried as much as possible to keep the details from their children but their classmates at school who had heard about it in the media and from their parents would tease them of having a “criminal father”.

For some time, Mr Sang sank into depression and did not want to speak to anybody about what he was going through.

“It felt as if it would be the end of me. I lost hope of being accepted in the society, but the fact that my family stood by me through the storm soothed me and our bond grew stronger,” he said during an interview with Lifestyle in Eldoret.

Support from Kenyans

“Against my fears, Kenyans have been very supportive. We grieved together and we are still prayerful that things will end well.”

Mr Sang could no longer concentrate on his job with the nightmare of being named an ICC suspect and the court trials that awaited him distracting him. And since the announcement was made five years ago, Mr Sang has occupied himself with trying to fight the charges at the international court.

He had to quit work because being a hot topic, Mr Sang would have had to discuss the “Ocampo Six” (as they were famously referred to) in his show, which he could not now that he was one of the suspects.

COURT SUMMONS

The ICC prosecutor alleges that the former radio presenter used his influence and large audience to broadcast anti-Kikuyu rhetoric, spread the word at Mr Ruto’s rallies, and even helped to coordinate the actual attacks through coded messages.

On March, 8, 2011, ICC indicted him to face four charges of crimes against humanity.

Mr Sang is accused of murder; deportation or forcible transfer of populations and persecution.

He is accused alongside Mr Ruto who is alleged to have planned and financed the violence which claimed 1,133 lives and led to the displacement of 600,000 others.

According to chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, who took over from Mr Moreno-Ocampo,  Mr Sang had broadcast “anti-Kikuyu rhetoric” when Kalenjins  who were largely in support of the Orange Democratic Movement party lost the election in 2007.

Mr Sang has denied the charges in the ongoing trial which has seen dozens of witnesses testify. He says he has lost count of the number of trips he has made to The Hague for the case.

“Usually, boarding a plane would be an exciting thing to me. But not when I am going to the court,” Mr Sang told Lifestyle.

He said sitting before the court has been traumatising.

“I feel a lot of self-pity. It has grounded many of my plans as I cannot get employed or engage in any work of my own since I am supposed to obey the court timetable and respond when they call,” he said.

He added: “A family man held in foreign land for court sessions for as long as two months, not knowing what tomorrow holds. Is that not traumatising?”

He said the court pays four of his lawyers and a hotel room but he meets the cost of food and the legal fees of four other lawyers and movement while at The Hague.

Mr Sang was reluctant to discuss the cost of the four lawyers he pays, or where he gets the money from.

His visa is restricted to The Netherlands and he prefers to stay in the hotel room when waiting for the next day’s court session. To beat boredom, he whiles away time watching the English Premier League football matches on television.

The 41-year-old Arsenal fan is glad that while at The Hague, the Dutch don’t pay much attention to him and usually treat him just as a tourist.

But Kenyans working and studying abroad, especially those in Amsterdam, often recognise him and give him moral support by constantly appearing in court to follow proceedings.

He occasionally meets with other Kenyans in a church called Uhuru where Africans congregate to pray.

I WAS FIXED

Although it has been five years, Mr Sang is yet to come to terms with the whole experience.

“Every day I wake up, the ICC case lingers in the shadows. It has got me off my track and deprived me of a career. I miss Len ne Emet,” an emotional Mr Sang said.

However, being a suspect has made him more spiritual and prayerful.

“Most times, my heart is heavy. I want  this to end and I know God will stand with me and let the truth prevail,” he said.

Mr Sang blames his tribulations on top officials in former President Mwai Kibaki’s government.

In one of the court sessions, the Ruto-Sang defence pointed fingers at then Defence PS Mutea Iringo, former civil service chief Francis Kimemia and Kibaki State House political adviser Nancy Gitau. The three have denied the allegation.

“The fixing was done by top officials in the Kibaki government who went ahead to coach a section of PNU supporters to testify against us,” said Mr Sang.

He, however, added it was upon the court to show justice “by throwing out the cases for lack of sufficient evidence”.

His defence believes that the case is weak, is based on hearsay and was poorly investigated.

“I have sat in the court for almost two years now; I couldn’t imagine the kind of things being said about me,” he said.

“ICC should not sacrifice people just to be seen to be delivering justice. If the prosecution really wanted to bring out justice, they would have carried out better investigations,” he told Lifestyle.

Mr Sang is glad President Kenyatta’s case was dropped and that his co-accused, Mr Ruto, was allowed to skip some court sessions so that he could concentrate on nation building.

SMALL FISH

According to Mr Sang, the case has helped him understand the attitude of Kenyans towards the less privileged. He says that although he carried the same burden as the others, the national focus and efforts to stop the case have largely revolved around the interests of the big fish. He says he has been a footnote, a by-the-way in the narrative.

“It will take a miracle for me to be jailed. But if it happens, it will be the biggest miscarriage of justice in the world,” Mr Sang said.

When he is not in The Netherlands, Mr Sang cares for his cows in his Eldoret home. While in the streets, his neighbours inundate him with messages of goodwill.

“Some say prayers for me while others seek my opinion on certain things, but I no longer enjoy talking much,” he said.

But what he longs for now more than anything else is to shed the “ICC suspect” tag.

Mr Sang is not certain when he will be required to re-appear in court.

He said the prosecution has had a status conference to debate on Rule 68, after which the judges will decide whether statements from witnesses who have recanted their testimonies would be admitted.

The chamber would then give a verdict before the next recess beginning July 16.

If the evidence will not be used, the court will either withdraw their case or wait for them to file a “No case to answer” which Mr Sang believes they would win.

“We know it is politicians and other big fish in the former government that framed us, but Kenyans have moved on and people who initially viewed each other as enemies have loved one another again,” he told Lifestyle.