Ethiopia should pay for holding Kenyan illegally

Kenyan journalist Yassin Juma (pictured), who is being held in Ethiopia, has written an emotional letter to his family in Kenya.

In the letter, the father of seven is pessimistic he will come out of the illegal detention alive as his health if failing by the day.

Juma is down with Covid-19 after he contracted the new coronavirus in detention. He worries that chances of his survival ‘are less’ due to the poor condition of the jail.

Ethiopia has committed a great injustice against this Kenyan. He wouldn’t have contracted the virus had the government not protracted his stay in jail by failing to honour court orders to release him.

Juma has been in detention for almost two months now despite two courts ordering for his release. Ethiopian Attorney General has also ordered for the release of the journalist, who is suspected to have been arrested because of his close ties with popular Oromia musician Hachalu Hundessa, a strong critic of the Ethiopian government. Hachalu was shot dead in July. Before the shooting, he had reported that he had received death threats.

It is unfortunate that Ethiopia insists on continuing to detain Juma although it is yet to prefer any charges against him. This is a grave violation of his rights.

The Kenyan government has on several occasions called on Ethiopia to respect the court orders and set Juma free.

But it must do more. It must ratchet up pressure on Ethiopia to release Juma for clearly there is nothing tangible to warrant his continued incarceration. Kenya must also ensure the journalist gets justice over the illegal detention and the Covid-19 affliction. Ethiopia should not muddy its good relations with Kenya by punishing Kenyans without a good reason.