Today marks 638 days since four Kenyans were detained in South Sudan over allegedly defrauding the Office of the President of Sh20 billion. On the rare and brief occasion their families were allowed to visit them, they found they had lost a lot of weight. Now it seems hope is lost as well, following their conviction.
Anthony Munialo, Anthony Wazome, Chuma Muriuki and Ravi Ghaghda were arrested on May 29, 2015.
The four, employees of Click Technologies, a Juba-based private company that specialises in graphics design and computer supplies, were detained alongside Peter Nkonge, but he got released in January last year.
The detainees were taken to court in February last year in a case the Foreign Affairs ministry termed political.
The prisoners were not told the reason for their arrest and initially not allowed to communicate with their family members.
In June last year, they were "condemned without evidence" alongside 12 South Sudanese nationals for 72 years, ending hopes of securing their release.
Civil rights activists during the march in Nairobi. Photo/File
SUSPECTS OR WITNESSES?
A week after news of their arrest broke, one family member travelled to Juba, seeking to establish the whereabouts of their son, but was met with hostility from authorities.
On July 7, 2015, Ghaghda was released and allowed to step out of the premises they had been detained in. He was told to return the next day to collect his passport and return home together with his colleagues.
The rest were still detained, but given mobile phones to communicate with their family members.
This was the first time they communicated with their families, to whom they narrated their ordeal behind bars.
On June 8, 2015, Ghaghda was re-arrested upon arriving at the premises they were being held.
The arrest was communicated to the Foreign Affairs ministry but no action was taken.
Family members say several meetings held with the ministry yielded nothing, with all meetings being inconclusive.
"It was always an argument of these Kenyans first being called suspects of the case and then changed to state witnesses, and the confusion was never cleared out," one prisoner's relative says. "In October, the Foreign Affairs ministry informed us that the case was now political and they could no longer help."
After their arrest, lawyers in Juba appealed to judges to allow the detainees a trial instead of an indefinite detention, a move the court dismissed.
On August 13, 2015, one relative wrote to the head of diaspora and consular affairs on behalf of other families over securing the release of their sons.
"We have been addressed twice by the director of the diaspora and consulate affairs along with other official members regarding this issue," the relative says. "As per our meeting on August 13, 2015, we have been informed that some of the Kenyans are being held as witnesses of state in the investigation that is being carried out."
Family members Tejal Ghaghda, Esther Osanya, Esther Wazume, Ruth Muriuki and Nicholas Nkonge have gone an extra mile, petitioning President Uhuru Kenyatta to step in and help secure the release of their loved ones.
On September 2015, family members wrote to President Uhuru Kenyatta asking him to intervene.
"We are informed that our relatives have since detention at Jebel Barracks not been allowed family, legal or consular visitation. They have not been charged before any court of law over any offence, nor have they been informed of the reasons of their detention. They are unable to communicate with family or friends as their mobile phones were confiscated up on arrest," they said.
In October 2015, the families finally met their loved ones after exerting pressure through the Foreign Affairs ministry.
They were allowed only 10 minutes to talk to their sons, which they did under guards' supervision and a strict rule of speaking in English.
To their shock during the brief visit, family members found out that their sons had lost tremendous weight and were unable to speak about circumstances that landed them to languish in jail.
The families also had an opportunity to meet committee members who had been appointed to investigate their case. They were told their sons will be returning home soon and urged not to panic or worry.
A civil rights activist holds a poster of the Kenyans detained in South Sudan. / FILE
GUNPOINT THREAT
Despite the assurances, the families did not receive any feedback from the government until February last year, when the court finally accepted to hear the case and the trial began.
During the trial, lawyers were not allowed to meet with their clients but were instead forced to communicate during court appearances.
On March 31 last year, Kiir Chol, the Click Technology company lawyer who also represented the four Kenyans, was threatened at gun point by national security and communication between him and clients disrupted.
At this point, family members were worried their sons would not get a fair trial.
The High Court then gave the accused a day to find a new lawyer, with Agok Makur agreeing to represent them.
The family members says witnesses were intimidated throughout the trial, with some being afraid to appear in court.
"One of the witnesses who agreed to travel from Nairobi was also sent threatening messages saying if he was to leave Nairobi for Juba, he would never return home."
The four Kenyans and others accused were jailed in June last year for 72 years.
The families, in documents seen by the star, now want President Uhuru Kenyatta to directly intervene, saying their efforts to secure freedom of their family members have been unsuccessful.
They say the ministry has been reluctant to help them.
On July 4, last year, National Assembly majority leader Aden Duale asked Foreign Affairs CS Amina Mohamed about the welfare of the four detainees.
Mohamed said: "The government strongly condemns the unjustified sentenced imposed on the four Kenyans."
She added: "The ministry has protested through a note verbale to the government of South Sudan through their mission here in Nairobi. In this regard, I have summoned the South Sudanese Ambassador in Nairobi to convey to his government our strong condemnation of this unbelievable and absolutely ridiculous judgement."
Note Verbale is a diplomatic communication prepared in the third person and unsigned. It's less formal than a note (also called a letter of protest) but more formal.
The CS said the four Kenyans had been condemned yet there was no evidence at all adduced in court linking them to the alleged crime.
Mohamed also said she had instructed the Kenyan Ambassador in Juba to convey Kenya's disappointment and grave concern to the government to the government of South Sudan on the way the case was handled.
"The Ambassador is also under firm instruction to ensure visitation rights for the accused while in prison are granted by South Sudanese authorities to their families and lawyers," she said.
Mohamed said Kenya's mission in Juba will continue to engage the government of South Sudan on the issue and also visit the accused in prison to be assured of their safety and general welfare.
"The government is considering a range of diplomatic measures to deploy to ensure these Kenyans are free and back home soon," she said.
INHUMANE CONDITIONS
On May 31 last year, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention said it was seriously concerned by the fact that the convicts had been deprived of liberty ever since they were arrested.
"The working group finds that the detention are without any legal basis and are thus conducted in violation of international norms on detention, including article 9 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights,"it said.
The working group took serious issue with the committee undertaking criminal investigations even after court dismissed the case.
The office of the Commission on Administrative Justice has written up to six letters to the ministry inquiring about the convicts.
On May 18 last year, the former CAJ chairperson Otiende Amollo wrote to Foreign affairs CS Amina Mohamed saying he has received a complaint about the missing citizens.
The commission has powers to conduct investigations on its own initiative or on complaint made by a member of the public or even issue summon.
Amollo urged the ministry to seek an update of the matter, including what action has been taken by the ministry regarding alleged mistreatment and victimisation.
"Such information would assist the families in deciding what action to take therein and to this end is the basis of our inquiry into this matter," he said.
Amollo wrote again on different dates inquiring about the fate of the convicts.
He wrote on July 14, saying the commission was aware that she cannot deal with the matters substantially before the court.
Amollo raised several procedural issues and human rights concerns raised through the family.
He said the judgement was read and written in Arabic and not translated for the accused in a language they understand.
"There have been several instances of witness intimidation by prosecution, as evidenced by an incident where advocate Kiir Chol was threatened at gun point to release the documents relating to the case," he said.
The commission also wrote letters between June and November.
Despite the back and forth, family members are yet to see light at the end of the tunnel.
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