Close friends to Simon Wambua Mbuvi, a Kenyan man serving a life sentence in China have explained what might have pushed him to alleged drug trafficking.
Mbuvi, a former official at Nairobi’s Chokaa church was charged with transporting "harmful substance to society" by a Chinese court resulting in his sentence in the foreign land.
Alfred Omondi and Peter Ngolo, two of his friends say financial constraints he was facing may have forced him to result to the trade.
“He was very broke and jobless. He had rent arrears, not to mention school fees to pay,” said Omondi in an interview on Thursday with Daily Nation.
Mbuvi's family is going through tough times as his wife, Anne Safari, 39, has to do menial jobs to provide for their three children aged 21, 14 and 12 respectively.
“I didn’t know what he was going to do in China. When he went silent, I kept looking for him, with my efforts bearing little fruit. Never mind that I could hardly raise the fare to go to government offices.” she narrated.
Further, Ngolo feels the Kenyan government can at least bring Mbuvi to serve his term in the country.
“OK, it’s a crime, a very serious crime. But it would be better if the Kenyan government could find a way of having people like Simon, who are jailed in foreign countries, brought back home to serve their sentences where their families can at least see them,” Ngolo added.