Kenyan woman faces execution in Vietnam as window for appeal shuts
Nduta was convicted on March 6 for trafficking two kilos of cocaine and is now facing execution, likely by lethal injection.
Margaret Nduta, a 37-year-old Kenyan woman sentenced to death in Vietnam for drug trafficking, is facing execution after the deadline for an appeal lapsed on March 12.
Her family was on March 12, still making desperate pleas for government intervention to save her life.
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Nduta was convicted on March 6 for trafficking two kilos of cocaine and is now facing execution, likely by lethal injection.
She was arrested in July 2023 while traveling to Laos. Her mother, Purity Wangui, is heartbroken and determined to see her daughter one last time, though she has no means to travel to Vietnam.
“I must see her before they hang her,” Wangui says.
Struggling to come to terms with the situation, she questions how her daughter, whom she raised with Christian values, could have ended up in such circumstances.
“Maybe she was framed, or she got into bad company. I have brought her up with strict Christian values. I am sorry on her behalf. I urge President William Ruto, through my MP Ndindi Nyoro, to take up her case, let my daughter be brought back home and be jailed here.”
Purity Wangari, mother of Margaret Nduta Macharia, who was sentenced to death in Vietnam for drug trafficking. (Screengrab)
Vietnam has some of the strictest drug laws in the world. Anyone caught smuggling more than 600 grams of heroin or cocaine faces the death penalty.
The country is a key transit point for narcotics, making it a high-risk area for drug-related crimes.
Nduta’s family is struggling to understand how she ended up in this situation.
According to Alex Murumba, a relative, the family is urging Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi to intervene.
“We are devastated as a family. We are not sure that Nduta, who we know as a straightforward daughter who only ventured out of the country in 2023 to seek her fortune, became a drug peddler.”
The urgency of the case has left the family frustrated. “We learnt of the sentencing on March 8. Today is March 11. It means we only have until March 12 to help her appeal. The government should help us do so,” Murumba says.
Murang’a Senator Joe Nyutu has also urged the government to assist in the appeal process. “The government should help Nduta appeal, win the case, and be reunited with her family.”
Nduta maintains her innocence, claiming she had no idea she was carrying drugs. She said she was hired by a Kenyan man known only as John to deliver a suitcase to a woman at the airport, after which she would collect a package to bring back home.
She had received Sh167,000 as advance payment, with her flights fully covered. Having passed security checks at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Ethiopia, and Qatar, she was shocked to be arrested upon arrival in Ho Chi Minh City.
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