Mudavadi
Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has disclosed that over a thousand Kenyans are languishing in foreign jails.
Speaking on Wednesday, Mudavadi called on Kenyans living in diaspora to abide by the rules and laws of the countries they are in.
“I may not have the exact figure on Vietnam, but we have a total of about 1,000 Kenyans in different countries who are serving jail terms for different offenses,” said Mudavadi.
The Prime CS pointed out that not all cases are drug-related and promised to get the exact number of Kenyans languishing in foreign jails and their offenses.
“We are trying to gather data because when Kenyans travel, they do not declare that they are traveling, so, they travel of their own volition and it is their right and they can go to whichever country they have been issued a visa for,” he stated.
Mudavadi also addressed the issue of Margaret Nduta who was sentenced to death over drug trafficking in Vietnam.
File image of Margaret Nduta in court
He said the government was making efforts to prevent Nduta’s execution by lethal injection.
“It is unfortunate that a Kenyan is facing this kind of situation it’s not a pleasant situation and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and in particular my Principal Secretary, has been trying to converse with his counterpart in Vietnam to see if there can be some mitigation in this process,” said Mudavadi.
Nduta was found with two kilograms of drugs at the Tan Son Nhat International Airport.
The 37-year-old was reportedly hired in July 2023 by a fellow Kenyan to transport a suitcase to Laos, a country in Asia.
She is said to have been paid $1,300 for the task, and her travel expenses, including plane tickets, were fully covered.
