We pleaded guilty in a court of law!

Only idiots can’t see the darkest point in my story

Chapter 12

We pleaded guilty in a court of law!

By Gwado J. Ador

It was so tiresome; I couldn’t sleep the whole night because of the reign of terror in the jail.

Like everybody else, I am still seated upright and awake with my back leaning against the wall. I could feel strain in the whole of my body, muscles aching, and my eyes were twitching.

When I gazed through the iron bars to see how it looks like now out there, it seems the anarchy that overruled us last night has subsided. Our little war was over, but still, I could hear some angry voices and sob here and there. We will shortly face a new dawn and a new reality.

Amir, one of the Syrian guys in the jail with us said earlier that, they had to spend two days in jail. Something they couldn’t understand. He said if you are lucky, the court can hear your case the following morning, but if not, you are unfortunate.

It’s normal to stay in the police jail for more than two days. This statement has shocked us after what we had experienced and I said to myself we wouldn't be able to go through all this torturing again?

At that moment, I wished they could call us to the court urgently, because of the experience we have had, and the stories we have heard about the station was so scary as we don’t want to go through all these.

Most people seem to suggest that, one could be better off in the main prison than in the police jail. In prison, there is a much wider space, and the inmates are always relaxed. They seemed free, while in jail the opposite is true.

Then, my mind went back in time reflecting on how this saga came about after all. I regretted saying if we were to follow the rest of our colleagues by staying away from the office; probably, they wouldn’t have arrested us.

The law is clear, Kenya has a well-established judiciary system. No, one can just arrest anybody without justification or enough evidence. When the security personnel stormed the compound that day, they were hoping to find us at work so that they have a case. They were looking for pieces of evidence to justify any action of the arrest.

I blamed myself for not understanding that sample fact. In reality, if we were to follow the rest of our colleagues by avoiding sitting in the office, nobody would have forced us to surrender without any written document or authorisation from the court.

But, nobody informed us about the importance of that, even some of our colleagues were just quiet but were regretting the fact that we were arrested.

While I was deeply reflecting in the past, I heard a screech on the iron bar, then the door opened, I saw a policeman walking in. He was looking furious and carrying a whip in his right hand and a file in the other. Suddenly, he went viral screaming,
’ …up…up…get up…fools, look at you’. It was a scary moment!

I tried to pull myself up, but with difficulty, I've been so tried as well as the rest of the inmates. They don’t have any more appetite for any trouble, because they have had enough of it last night.

They want to continue sleeping and have full body rest. But, unfortunately, this was cut short by the policeman who was just screaming madly that morning.

Anyway, the constable walked around with steady steps, whilst his eyes piercing through our minds; he was looking at our face to face and one by one. He then smiled and said,

‘All right, I will call out your names one by one, and when you hear yours, please, step forward and stand just beside me, because some of you will be going to the court for hearing this morning. Am I clear?’

‘Yes Sir’, we answered, though I couldn’t raise my voice with enthusiasm, because the volume of my tone was so weak from fatigue. I had no strength even to say something or to resist anything. At least, I was so happy that we will be going to the court as I hopped.

I was still agonising over my situation and asking myself serious questions as to why and how long would I be in Nairobi jail. Did Dan Iff try his best to bail us out of this shit?

Dan Iffe might have tried, but he had failed because most of his friends who could have helped him reach the Kenyan officials in the corridor of power weren’t in Nairobi by that time.

All the SPLM commanders, including officials of the New Sudan Council of Churches, were in Rumbek to resolve the ensuing tension between Dr John Garang and his deputy Salva Kiir Mayardit.

It was rumoured that Dr John Garang had intended to arrest Salva Kiir Myardit and replace him with Nhial Deng, a situation which made Salva Kiir stand up against him in Yei and threatened SPLM of disintegration when South Sudan was about to determine its future.

We were very unfortunate and resigned to our fate in Kenya, the law had to take its course.

When the constable read the names loudly, ours were among those who were called.
Immediately, I praised my God for having us included among the rest for the court hearing that day.

The option to stay in the prison played negatively into my mind, and I said to myself, we would be better off in the prison than in the police jail if worse comes to worst.

However, about six names were called; but unfortunately, the names of the Syrian guys weren’t there. We left them looking very miserable and sad as they will have to spend another night in a horrible condition. They will have to continue maintaining that little jail, or otherwise, they will have to face the Chokora as we did last night.

It was 09:30 AM already when constable told us to follow him to the counter and we went. He opened the cupboard and removed all our belongings, then gave us each our items by ticking the list according to our names. He also prepared some documents, stamped and put them in the envelope.

Two other policemen came later and informed the constable that the vehicle is ready outside to take the inmates to the court which wasn’t very far from the main city centre. We went out and got into the vehicle, then we sped off.

On our arrival, we stopped in front of a huge modern building with high windows, it stands to overlook the city centre. I guessed this was the Nairobi High Crown Court.
I saw groups of people coming from a different direction and going into one of the halls of that a giant building. Some were lawyers in their black robes, and others either officials or spectators. Normally, in judicial procedure, ordinary people are sometimes allowed to attend the court hearings.

We were taken first to a certain corridor at the backyard of the main hall. We sat there until when everybody was ready. At 11:00 AM they told us to go into the hall. We were escorted in and sat somewhere, which I believe was reserved for us. It was calm inside with some people talking in low tune and others putting wide smiles on their faces.

Shortly, the judge entered the hall and took his seat. Just flanking him, were two others; they were his colleagues. The court Clark walked across and gave the presiding judge an envelope, which looks like the envelope I saw earlier at the police counter in the central police station.

He went back and sat, it was obvious the plaintiff was an official from the immigration, we didn’t have a defence lawyer as this was clear. It was them vs us, It’s a criminal proceeding.

The judge removed the content of the envelope and keenly looked at them; his face wrinkles changed, but brighten up later. He lifted up his head and said, ‘are our friends, the Sudanese present?’

‘Yes your honour’

The Clark called our names loudly: Gwado Ador, Moses Lobosong, and Wol Manchok. We stood up and everybody stared at us. There were few groans, coughs and soft whistles in the room.

‘Good, now you may sit down’, said, the judge, and then, we sat quietly.

It seems, our case was the first to look at that morning. There, I could see across the room, Mr Dan Iffe, John Gachie, Lenet, and Fr. Celestine seated, but Martha wasn’t among them, she didn’t attend as we expected.

We exchanged glances with them; Dan Iffe smiled nodding his head as if he was saying everything would be fine. Fr. Celestine waved at us with a smile full of hope and signalled that he had prayed for us and that everything would be ok. Gachie nodded while staring at us and signalled to wish us good luck.

Through, loudspeakers, the judge cleared his throat to signal the beginning of the court hearing. His opening remarks were by all measures very friendly and warm. He talked in low tune, but, with confidence. He spoke about his special relationship with the people of Sudan.

While looking at our direction, he told us saying, ‘you are very good people by nature, I know many of your leaders here in Nairobi, including Dr John Garang. We have been in support of your cause throughout your struggle to attain justice, freedom and equal rights, and that is why we are hosting your peace negotiations in Kenya.

However, he groaned… and said, when I was looking at your case in front of me here, it was very clear in your separate statements which was made under oath that, the immigration officials found you busy while sitting on your desks and that means, you were practically caught while doing some work. Was that right?

‘Yes, your honour’ we said with one voice.

‘It is not acceptable here, it’s against the Kenyan law’ he told us.

‘Would you agree with my judgment that you are guilty?’

‘Yes your honour’, we pleaded

He said, though, ‘I want to sympathise with you, because of the situation under which you are going through at home. But, it was evident beyond any reasonable doubt that you were on the wrong side of the Kenyan law when our immigration officials found you working without any authorisation’. He said.

‘Not that only, but some of you have had their visas expired and overstayed in Kenya without attempting to renew their visas and this cannot be tolerated.’ He concluded.

Thus, I have ruled as follow:

Gwado Ador should be fined Ksh 35,000 or be on remand for ‘nine-month’ and thereafter deportation to the country of origin for having no work permit and also for not renewing his visa.

Moses Lobosong, fined Ksh 25,000 or ‘three months’ in the prison on remand for having no work permit and deportation to the country of origin.

Wol Manchok, fined Ksh 25,000 or ‘three months’ in the prison on remand for having no work permit.

After passing the sentences, he declared saying, ‘court adjourned!’ everybody jumped up and started to walk out in an orderly manner with some arguing and casting their opinions in law tune about the procedure.

I could hear some were saying, ‘the judge was fair enough and is renowned for his wisdom, they are blessed to have somebody like him. But, others were saying, he was so lenient and over sympathetic. According to them, the sentences should have been tougher than that because foreigners have always been abusing their hospitality, and broken the Kenyan Law!’

For me, the judge was doing his duty by following the right procedure as stated in the Kenyan statuary law or otherwise, he would have thrown the case out of the window if were as sympathetic as they might have thought.

His sympathy towards us and to our cause didn’t affect his judgement as a lawyer who was responsible to follow the code of conduct. Therefore, his judgement was right and fair; we were punished according to the law because of our negligence.

Two policemen came immediately and escorted us outside the courtroom. I believed we were now sentenced and Dan Iffe should pay the fine to bail us out. He must do more to get us out of this shit.

Dan iff, John Gachie, Lenet and Fr Celestino rushed outside to catch up with us and they found us already being told to get into the prison vehicle which would take us to Nairobi Industrial Area.

Dan Iff informed us saying, ‘procedures are being undertaken, as soon as they get through with them, and get the money from the Netherlands, they would make sure that we are bailed and released immediately.’

‘ok, we will wait’ we told him.

Thus, we were transported from the court in an enclosed dark vehicle, it was full of young people. We were all standing up. The three of us were standing side by side during which I felt somebody’s hand persistently touching my trousers’ back pocket, then; I grabbed his hands with force and removed it.

It was obvious, he was a thief, I told him to back off and warned him not to try again or otherwise I will punch him.

’ Sorry, the vehicle was rough and that is why I was unsteady. He said,

‘Sorry for yourself’ with the anger I told him and he kept quiet.

After half an hour drive, we have lastly reached the Nairobi Industrial Prison. It’s a huge complex surrounded by a high wall made of strong stones. It’s tightly guarded in a tiny box suspended up at all corners. The prison is divided into sections of which each hosts inmates according to the level of crime committed and the terms of imprisonment. Long or short

On arrival, we were immediately separated; I was taken to the long term imprisonment section because nine months of imprisonment is a heavy charge. The inmates in that section were mostly hardened criminals. Meanwhile, Wol and Moses were taken to a short term section with light offences convicts.

Thus, we were put in prison on remand until the money for fines was settled, but the worrying part was that we didn’t know that deportation was an integral part of the sentences passed by the judge.

Deportation

After good four days on remand at Nairobi Industrial Prison, I glimpsed Dan Iffe, Lenet and Patrick Mage crossing by our section. They went into the prison administration office. Then shortly, they came out while holding some papers and I was thinking they might have come to bring us some food and beverages as we were tired of eating beans and porridge every day.

Soon, the news I got said, the fines have been settled and now they will release us and go home. They were left with some few paperwork to finalise our bail. I was so happy that morning and I believed Wol and Moses had the same ecstasy because I saw Lenet speaking to them while smiling in the far distance.

Shortly, one of the prison warders came into the ‘block C’ where I was. He said, are you Gwado Ador, I rose my hand and said yes. He told me, you are going to be released. It was a moment of joy, I couldn’t believe my ears, my tears streamed down my face, but that was the way it should go!

He said, now follow me, and I followed while smiling to myself and saying God has finally looked upon us. He took me straight to the administration where the rest of my colleagues were. There, I got Dan Iffe, Lenet, Patrick, Wol and Moses. They told me we will be going home.

But, the bad news was that, we were being deported, even Dan iffe didn’t know about it. It was in the judge ruling that after serving the prison term, then we should be deported immediately.

When the paperwork was completed, we were asked to sign an undertaking. Then, one of the prison warders came and told us, ‘you will be taken now to the airport’.

‘But why the airport?’ I asked.

They said, you are on deportation and that was the decision taken by the judge last week.

It was a very sad moment. Everybody was so quiet and unhappy. Moses and I got into the police vehicle, Wol was told to remain behind in the prison as his deportation will take place the next day.

Patrick and Lenet were asked by Dan Iffe to go home and collect some of our belongings, and pack them in small bags and then bring them directly to the immigration department at the airport, as the police vehicle would be going directly and won’t stop anywhere.

Upon arrival at the Jomo Kenyatta Airport, we were taken straight to the immigration department, there was a jail for people being deported and we were told to wait inside the cells for our flights. I learned later that I was going to be deported to the Netherlands and the plane would fly at midnight hours. Moses was going to be deported to Uganda as he holds a Ugandan passport.

However, Moses boarded Kenyan airways earlier and left for Uganda. For me, I waited until the security officers came carrying my bag and some papers at hand. They opened the cell and asked me to follow them. It was 23:30 they took me through the gates.

There at gate 04, I saw the plane, it was KLM bound for Amsterdam. The security asked for the pilot responsible.

One of the cabin crew members came and they talked to her. While I was looking at them, I couldn’t grasp what they were talking about, but I could guess it was about me and I saw an envelope being handed over to the cabin crew member.

At the end of their talk, I heard them saying, I should be given my passport on arrival. Then, they said, goody Mr Gwado and they left.

I boarded the plane and inside, I was shown where I must sit. It was late November 2004. It was winter already in Europe. I am now being deported leaving behind all my belongings, including my private car parked at home. I was thinking of a plan to return immediately to Nairobi and relocate to Uganda.

As for Wol Manchok, I have heard that he was taken to Lokichoggio at the border with Kenya the following day. Wol was told by the immigration officials, ‘do you see that beautiful extended land over there?

‘Yes’, Wol Manchok answered them.

‘That is South Sudan, you just walk it from here, it will only take you ‘30 KM’ into that vast land and there you will find yourself at home, and eventually in Abyei. Goodby!

That was how Wol Manchok was deported from Kenya to Sudan as I was told later.

The reason was that Wol didn’t have valid travelling documents in the possession, he had only SPLM membership card which wasn’t recognised as a travel document by the Kenyan immigration authorities.

I understand where the immigration officials come from, but they were only executing the law.

To be continued next week…

Upcoming

‘When two men quarrel, do not allow them to share the same seat on a canoe’

Dedicated to the honest and fearless in South Sudan

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