The list of people, who the International Criminal Court believes have a case to answer with regards to Kenya's 2007 post election violence, is finally out. Three are senior politicians, two are senior civil servants and one, is a journalist. Yes, journalists too are not immune from impunity.
The man in question, Joshua arap Sang, an FM radio Presenter, is said to have used his morning programme to incite people to attack supporters of one of the two main political parties.
But the fact that ICC's Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo singled out a media practitioner is an ominous sign that journalists can and should bear responsibility for their actions, if they go against the spirit of serving the public's interest.
There is no denying the fact that many more journalists remain culpable, guilty of helping to fan the mayhem that characterised Kenya's darkest moments.
It is highly probable that Joshua is just being used to represent the indictment of the entire media in Kenya, with regards to the post poll chaos.
If the KASS FM Presenter gets convicted, nay, even before his case passes through ICC's Pre-trial chamber and summons are issued, journalists should take heed and see it as a major wake up call.
You just don't use your privileged position and ability to influence a mass audience, to propagate ulterior motives, contrary to acceptable media ethics.
And more importantly perhaps, there is no hiding behind or in front of the microphone, camera or keyboard and claiming it is a journalist's duty to just report or provide an account of what is happening.
If it borders on enhancing impunity, then journalists too are not immune from bearing responsibility.
43 comments:
Whoever is named in the impunity list should take full responsibility of his actions and go straight to the hague.Using your position to stir up violence is a crime and Joshua should set as an example.
hague! and now on tv he's claiming he wants peace for kenya. idiot! HAGUE
Aspiring Journal politician i knew the Guy he was soo much into politics "♫♫ na Kila mutu hatauchukua mzigo wake mwenyewe .... siku za mwisho siku hiyo itafiiika ♫♫♫♫
I personally Never heard this man say anything of "incitement" nature.He used to tell pple to exercise restraint.this is all what I heard from him...I will wait to hear otherwise
Koech
pole lakini haukujua kutaenda hivyo
Well said lizleppy, let it be a lesson. And yes, let no one belittle our intelligence by thinking we can't read between the lines.
....I heard the FM Radio was used to collect & disperse troops to target areas to commit crime, "Ng'oa kwekwe" slogan used to kill & evict PNU supporters. If you are innocent, settle with ICC.
So annoying. Wat happened to the people from other regions? E.g msa we were very much affected en infact the clip which shows msa is from our shop. Haki kweli yatendewa watu wote ama ni particular tribes or party. Msa twataka justice also.
The guy's eyes are red - like he smokes weed. At least weed is legal in Netherlands if does it.
I come from Central Province, and this 1 got me thinking..a senior politician's reaction to the list today on CNN saying:"let's protect our people....". by that she meant the people in the ocampo's list, specifically her relative (gimme a break mama!). Other (young)supporters of the alleged criminals claim there's no regional balance in the list and claim political hand in it- ridiculous indeed!!
Joshua Arap sang is innocent until proven guilty.If the ICC court will prove him guilty then more journalists names will have to be tabled because that would mean the whole Media family in Kenya committed crime against humanity.
A wake up call indeed," Its not only Joshua who has been indicted but the entire KASS FM. It should be shut down, as its unfortunate that local tribunal and TJRC idea has flopped since it could be panacea to tribal bigotry journalists.
let them carry their own cross. guyz died coz of their incitement. let the law tek its course
ulimi kiumbe kidogo majivuno yake ni makubwa.................
I think its time for everyone to face the music,we lost so many innocent Kenyans because of their incites,they remain dark scars in the hearts of Kenyans
Am so sure there are as many other journalists out there who are not as innocent. Well, all what happened, was a great loss to Kenya which I do not know how it can be recovered! We lost our beloved people! sob* sob* sob*
ocampoh is just another idiot..he means no good for kenya. watch this space.
Pole sana.... Let them carry their own CROSS
Give the devil his due;this man Joshua arap Sang never used the morning show to incite or invite any attack!!!! Waki had his own very personal scores to settle and to hide behind the pillars of justice to execute his malice is manifest non-sense
the cat is finally out of the bag, am schocked by the evidence that i wonder how the Hague 6 are gonna defend themselves...jail straight..and Mr Amos Wako can u tell Kenyans where that Policeman who shot someone in Kisumu on National TV is ..apparently released due to ''lack of evidence''..jokes
Well, a lot will be said in the coming days to the effect that "I am innocent" or "politics was at play". Apparently, all this is to be expected from any one until the judges out there finds proof that indeed some, or all the six guys were culpable.
I can't wait to read or listen to news announcing, "the former Kenyan senior politician/civil servant will be serving 30 years alongside Charles Taylor" ha ha ha!
This will sink sanity into future leaders who may be tempted to think that they own the country!
The next step should imminent resignation for those implicated! When will it be? WORD!
They thought they are immune,untouchable.but dont underrate God.everyone belongs to Him and thus killing is one against His will no matter which method.everything that happened will be unearthed and remember "GOD REVEALS ALL GOOD AND EVIL FOR ALL TO SEE AND THE INNOCENT BLOOD IS STILL CRYING FOR JUSTICE".let them bear their own cross coz its time of payback.
Am a journalist, I covered the ugly, the raw footage was heard to deal with, especially Kiambaa,I was standing beside the old man who was rolling on the ground crying "wameuwa wote". Sometimes I see his face in my dreams. This so called 'journalist' who incited people should be fried in the Hague. And the many more who were aligned to their tribes and now shamelessly walking with pens should be named and gotten. A real journalist knows "My tribe is Journalist"
Whoever is blaming ocampo, he didn't write the list
Kenyans r still having tribalism issues, everyone anatetea mtu wao. We r headed for disaster if we don't change
I listen to kass media often,i can categorically state that at no date have i heard Joshua Sang incite or talk in a manner to suggest war.In fact in 2007,this guy warned the Kalenjin community against acts of bloodshed.This guy even prayed for peace on air!.Unless somewhere else other than the studio,this guy never incited or participated in anyway.
Hi, very interesting blog you have here. Is there any chance Gachiri that you could contribute to my site Mediaville News?
Have a look at it and let me know. I'm interested in reporting more about Eastern Africa after visiting the area. It was great to see you in Nairobi!
Greetings from London.
now now now where's raila's henchmen,likes of anyang nyong'o who called for mass action in broad daylight!
If justice is not delivered we are planting seeds of discord, when you are accused of doing something which you did not do it always becomes an injustice, only the kalenjin people and those from other tribes who understand kalenjin can tell whether Joshua actually incited anyone, we know what happened, the memories are still fresh in our minds, i followed every programme that went on air at Kass Fm at that time, if at all they want the truth, then the recording of the programmes are still available, we can go through them and verify the details, we are watching and should any injustice be done to someone we will ask why, a country cannot be build by malice, Raila said in a press conference at that time that going to court was not an option to them "ODM", what was the option, he warned kivuitu to resign or risk seeing this country become siera leone, is this not incitement?, in life it reaches a point where you dont care what comes your way, Lord have mercy on us, coz when we shall stop thinking then we will be no more.
again......until proven guilty folks!why assume he is already convicted?
Well placed Albert. Is there a way you and other right-thinking media people can influence others to be extra careful what they write or say. There are times when what is said or written borders on incitement which is very unfortunate. Thanks for this blog
This man Joshua Sang according to regular listeners of the Kass FM confirms that at no time did he incite people to attack. I used to listen to his programme every morning and nothing like incitement came out of this station. The truth will aquaint this man.
Ocampo has shot himself in his foot....he is unlikely to succed in the six cases..its a public relation exercise
This is pure non-sense. even you Gachiri, you are no better. what is being written here is a perfect replica of Sang's program. Idiots who contributed to his live broadcast made inciting remarks, just as some idiots here making prejudicial convictions!Peace Kenyans! but just know that ICC is not peace to Kenya.
mnh i don't think,this is happening!!!wacha tuwajuwe watangazaji vile wanaishi,tutawajuwaje?
even though the list is out,Moreno o campo must no that he is still beating around the bush,where are people like O dinga Tinga,kwani watu walikufa tu eld na naivasha?what about Migori.???/?????????
I would like to say that, the victims should wait for the outcome, be it justice or no justice..who knows what the ICC got? the only thing that i would suggest now is the Government and the people of Kenya to help the IDPs return to their homes and hope that the new constitution will change our country.
sometimes i wonder if those arrested during Pev asked the quiz why they were killing..they will not have a reason for doing that..killing children, raping women and destroying houses should be the last and for all..But i am urging the courts and the law enforcement to do their duties for all common good. Some comments here are touching and if the same comments reach all kenyans this the way to change the country. Another thing stop using words that can spear hatred lets love and live according to a national pledge!! Peace,Love and Unity.
I do not see conviction. Just show me one ICC conviction, just one by ICC. Charles Taylor is going home next year, Lubanga after raping and killing thousands in DRC is free, Pierre Bemba's case cannot be processed due to faulty evidence! If we are looking for justice from ICC, we are off target, ICC is a political organ.
Oooohhhh my poor country!!!!!!!!. Kenya is run by typical dirty politicians. 90% of kenya is dirty politics which controls almost everything from offices to common mwananchi who always suffer as a victim due to selfishness and carelessness of politicians. My motherland is failing just because of dirty politics from politicians. AM NOT and I WILL NEVER BE part of any politics in Kenya. I HATE DIRTY PILITICS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It is a pity to see some people open their dirty mouth to talk ill against Ocampo. Koffi Annan gave us enough time to form a local tribunal but our politicians who are always guided by their stomach totally refused as a group to form this very essential local tribunal. Its nonsense for them to come united at the eleventh hour to try and form the same. Hii ni aibu kubwa. It is not a secret that all the people in the list were directly or indirectly involved in killing, raping, property destroying etc during the time of PEV.
It is also true that so many other people are out there who were even more involved and they are now happy crapping their hands and mocking Ocampo. I want to tell them that God does not sleep and he does not leave anybody go Scot free.
Look at the people who killed Robert Ouko,y are almost all dead. The living ones are living miserable lives and they are dying soon.
Kenyans MUST wake up and stop worshiping these fools called politicians. They will never ever think about us but themselves. See how they are united to save their own colleagues....sisi ni wajinga sana. They cant think of homeless people who live like dogs in the IDP camps.
I hate being Kenyan and am sure God will burn this country as we are the most evil and corrupt county in the entire world.
James
Arap Sang should not pretend he did not know what his messages behind the mike would do to the country!! event after causing so much damage to the country, he still followed that threatening other journalists in Eldoret - Media Council was handling that case and I appeal to anybody who knows the status of the case to let me know.
Shame on KIMC if at all it produced Mr Sang...a very unethical journalist when sitting behind the microphone!!
I'm a victim I lost everything, events still fresh in my mind.... May justice be done!
Many Journalists are guilty of what Sang is being held liable for. Note how quiet they have suddenly become and are now only reporting the facts without their shameless lopsidedness or empty point of view. Journalists in Kenya come cheap and are always on the payroll of this or that dirty politician to do their bidding...and yet they remain or pretend to be poor! None of them ever gets anywhere...oh well they just wait for the next batch of mheshimiwas to pocket another envelope. Well the new constitution is their bane and I bet they are each in their minds plotting how they will survive if rotten politicians are being rooted out one by one. Most don't like politicians who don't host them once in a while and that is why some get overkill covereage even if they just pass gas...which is alot of the time! Those supporting Sang must be those who do not know to read journalists messages between the lines. They, like Sang, can go on air and say the lords prayer or 10 hail mary's and yet those to whom the message is directed will know what to do. The hague (or hell!) with all those who have been mentioned! Even if it is an excersise in futility Kenyans are getting informed and the future will not be easy for all these roaches to do their dance with impunity!
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