My name is Virginia Chitengu O’Grady. I am a Zambian citizen advocating for my husband, Ryan O’Grady, a Canadian citizen, who is awaiting extradition from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to South Sudan over allegations made by his former employer, Kush Bank. He worked with the bank for eight years in several roles—first remotely as an international advisor and later as Acting CEO—before resigning in April 2023.
South Sudan is not new to me. I lived and worked there for five years — first for three to four months in 2016, and then again from 2018 until 2022. It was in South Sudan that Ryan and I met and fell in love.
During our time there, we integrated closely with the community, working alongside grassroots organisations and supporting skills development within the sectors we served. During his tenure, Ryan worked to strengthen the integrity of his organisation by supporting women- and youth-led initiatives. He was also instrumental in the fight against corruption within the company.
During my final year in South Sudan, Ryan and I were approached by the company I worked for (name withheld for legal reasons) to assist in answering questions as part of an ongoing whistleblowing investigation being conducted by that organisation. It was during this process that our role in the investigation was exposed, and we became targets. A smear campaign was launched against both of us through social media, with false narratives circulated about us — allegations that, at the time, we chose never to address publicly.
Ryan received death threats, which were recorded and shared with the relevant authorities in South Sudan, and survived an attempt on his life. I was targeted with a fabricated video, circulated by those we had reported in the whistleblowing process.
Within two weeks of our participation in the whistleblowing process with the organisation I worked for, retaliation was set in motion against me. A military van carrying twenty armed men was sent to my office. I was picked up and detained at the National Security Service headquarters, where I was interrogated by the highest office of that institution. No due process was followed. I was deported the next day, without trial, on charges that were never proven. Ryan, too, was subjected to threats by those he had stood against.
I later resigned from my job in February 2023 due to the trauma I experienced.
Ryan resigned in April 2023. In October 2023, an Interpol Red Notice was placed against him by his former employers, which triggered a travel ban preventing him from ever leaving the UAE. We have lived in the UAE for four years now, carrying the uncertainty and fear born from the experience we had in South Sudan — a country we both love.
This is the same fear I now carry for my husband — that in the coming days, Ryan will be brought to Juba to face trial. I am calling on relevant authorities, human rights bodies, and the international community to ensure that any legal process involving my husband is conducted transparently, lawfully, and in accordance with due process and international human rights standards.
Virginia O’Grady can be reached at BringRyanHome@Proton.me or https://bringryanhome.com.
The views expressed in ‘opinion’ articles published by Radio Tamazuj are solely those of the writer. The veracity of any claims made is the responsibility of the author, not Radio Tamazuj.
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