Sang exudes confidence he will make ‘mince meat’ of ICC charges

By ALLY JAMAH                              

On a calm evening last week, former radio journalist Joshua Arap Sang’ was hosted by his former university classmates at a Nairobi hotel to give him the much-needed moral support before he travels for his trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The conversation was lively and animated with Sang cracking  jokes with his friends as they shared a meal of ugali and mbuzi choma (roast goat meat), washed down with tea and soup.

The group of around 10 graduated from Moi University in December 2011 but have remained in close contact through their Facebook group.

 Sang jokes that everyone seems to have forgotten that he is also facing ICC charges, with attention being directed to President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy Wiliam Ruto.

“It is not that I am craving for public attention, it is just that my freedom and reputation are also on the line as much as Uhuru’s and Ruto’s. I also need prayers from Kenyans to help me win this case,” he says chuckling.

“Even when some civil society group filed a case at the  High Court so that Uhuru and Ruto don’t leave the country to attend the cases, no one remembered to include me. It’s like they want me to go and the rest to remain.”

Media limelight

But on a more serious note, Sang’ is happy that he is away from the media  limelight saying it’s  good that his family members are no longer  bombarded  with questions on his ICC tribulations, and the possibility of him being jailed if found guilty.

“I don’t want  my children, wife and parents to keep seeing me on TV  regarding the ICC case because that gives them  lot of stress. I don’t want them to worry so much about it me,” he says.

“In the past when this whole ICC issue began, my daughter kept asking me what I was doing on TV, or why I kept being away from home. It was very difficult for me and my wife to make her understand.”

Sang oozes confidence that he will defeat Bensouda “squarely” and make mince meat of  her charges against him and return home a free man.

He reveals that his legal team have lined up major surprises for the ICC prosecutor.

“Deep down in my heart, I am not worried at all. I know I am an innocent man and I believe that we will convince the judges to throw out the case which is full of lies against me,” he asserts.

“We have truth and the prosecutor’s office has lies. They claim I attended a meeting with Ruto where we took oaths  and planned the killings. I never attended such a meeting and we will prove that to the judges.”

Sang also insists that another central pillar of Bensouda’s case that he was spewing out inciting messages on  radio between January 1 and 4, 2008 after the disputed general elections.

“We were playing music only at that time and no political coverage was done after the government had stopped all live broadcasts of the chaos that was unfolding right before our eyes. So Bensouda has no case at all.  Her case will just collapse. Just wait and see,” he says.

Sang’s friends couldn’t agree more. They believe Sang is innocent and are fervently hopeful that his ICC nightmare will end.

“We cannot abandon Sang  at such a difficult time when he is trying to clear his name. I firmly believe that he is innocent. I have known him for long. He can’t even hurt a fly. That’s  why we are giving him all the moral support we can muster. We are fully behind him,” says Yusuf Abdi, who works for an NGO in Nairobi.

“I am praying hard for my friend Sang. Eventually, truth will triumph and falsehoods will vanish,” says Doris Nyarangi.

Mr Sang himself expresses confidence that by the end of it all, he would teach Bensouda and future ICC prosecutors not to rush cases just for the sake of it unless they have solid evidence.