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Alan Wadi is finally a free man. Convicted of hate speech against President Uhuru Kenyatta in January this year, the Moi University student was freed by Justice Luka Kimaru last week after a successful appeal by lawyer Edward Oonge.
Wadi became the first Kenyan to be convicted of hate speech related charges. The 25-year-old made social media posts that reportedly insulted the president on December 18 and 19, 2014.
Milimani Law Courts resident magistrate, Ann Kaguru, sentenced Wadi to two years of in jail after finding him guilty of sending messages “calculated to bring into contempt the lawful authority of the President of the Republic of Kenya.”
Speaking exclusively to The Nairobian, Wadi, who served time at Industrial Area and Athi River prisons, said last year’s Security Laws (Amendment) Act was the reason he posted a message that said, among other things, that Kenya should not be ruled by a president whose head was guided by something stronger than a cigarette.
The political science student and blogger who went by the name ‘Liutenant Wadi,’ says the controversial law had frustrated him ‘beyond measure.’
The law, which was spurred by sporadic terror attacks that rocked the country much of last year, requires journalists to obtain police permission before investigating or publishing stories on domestic terrorism and security issues.
“I was frustrated to a point of mental instability, and I put up that post. When I saw my name as an accused person, everything was exaggerated and I felt very insecure at that time,” said Wadi, who was on his way to Uganda - where he has roots - when he was arrested.
Wadi was charged alone in court at 6:30am.
While Wadi pulled the posts down after protests from Kenyans, someone who had captured screen shots of the posts later uploaded them, leading to his arrest over hate speech and demeaning the authority of a public officer, contrary to Section 132 of the Penal Code.
Ruled resident magistrate Kuguru: “The offence is serious and a deterrent penalty is called for to serve as a warning to others abusing social media forums.” She went on to pronounce the sentence after “he (Wadi) was convicted on his own plea of guilt.”
No politician visited him in jail, and he didn’t expect any to because “I was not being used by any politician. I put up the posts myself, in my own decision, and I owned up. I accepted the charge in court because that is what transparency is. One day, when I want to become a leader, because that is who I am, people will know that when it mattered most, I accepted my mistake and served my time for it.”
But he refutes claims that the online post that went up condemning ODM politicians by a certain ‘Lieutenat Wadi’ was from his account. “If you see any account claiming to be mine even now, know that it is a hoax. I brought my account down on December 26 last year, and it is not up yet.”
Wadi now hopes the university will allow him to finish his education, but “I have not communicated to the school and neither have they. I am planning to go back and apply for special exams,” said Wadi who missed his first year’s second semester and second year’s first semester main exams due to lack of fees.
Wadi said the six months in the cooler made him a stronger person, despite thinking, at first, that his life was over. “I have been strengthened. I was afraid, but I realised it was part of the steps I had to go through in life.”
On his first night behind bars, Wadi says he could not sleep. From what he had heard about prison, he knew it was going to be a terrible experience.
“I knew my life was over that first night. But when I was transferred from Industrial Area to Athi River, I met people who were serving more than 10-year jail terms.Then I felt that mine was not that bad after all,” says Wadi.
In his argument during the appeal, lawyer Oonge said that the magistrate, during Wadi’s sentencing, ignored his mitigation, as Wadi had said he had a mental condition.
“I am Kenyan. I have a family here, and they even visited me. I have a brother and a mother who were allowed to visit me from the third month,” says Wadi, refuting claims he has no family connections in Kenya.
