Leah Wanjiru Kungu is a Kenyan woman, mother of one son and grandmother to two kids.
In 2011, Leah was struggling to find steady employment and grew desperate for money. Her son was in university, and they had no money to pay for his tuition fees.
Aerial shot of Nairobi, Kenya
"They had told me they could make my life a bit easier."
This “friend” established a good connection with Leah by sympathizing with her situation. They even helped her pay rent for two months. They got her to trust them. Once they had her trust, things took a turn.
Leah was offered a deal. She was asked to transport one kilogram of heroin from Kenya to the Seychelles. She was assured someone would be waiting for her when she arrived, and that her journey was sure to be safe.
The Seychelles, often seen as a paradise for tourists, turned into a nightmare for Leah when she was arrested upon arrival.
She was charged with drug trafficking after the drugs were found hidden in her body and underwear.
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Four months later, she received her sentence: 10 years in prison.
Leah tending to a garden in prison in the Seychelles.
“Pray for me to die.”
Leah was overwhelmed with stress in prison which triggered serious health problems. She developed fibroids that bled for days. The amount of bleeding was so severe that people speculated she had an abortion.​
The gynaecologist told Leah she needed surgery to remove her uterus. Leah said, “Go ahead!” Leah wished to never wake up from the surgery, seeing death as her only escape. When a nurse told Leah she would pray for her, the only words Leah could muster out were, “Don’t pray for me. Pray for me to die.”
The memories of her family back in Kenya gave Leah the strength to continue to fight. During the remainder of her incarceration, Leah developed her spirituality and found solace in her connection to God. She became a support for those who, like her, were isolated from the people they cared about.
Leah with a group of fellow inmates and Jenny Clayton, the facilitator for the Restorative Justice Program.
"Leah, give me time. I’ll check on you,” said President Faure.
Six years into her sentence, she had the opportunity to speak to the President of the Seychelles at the time, Danny Faure. He asked her what she wished for. Leah wished to return home, to see her son and take care of her ill mother. She vowed she was a changed woman, that she had grown during this time.
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Leah received a pardon from the president in 2019, 4 years before she was meant to be released.
"There is a prison stigma."
Life as an ex-convict, however, was not easy. Hoping to raise awareness about the dangers of drug trafficking, Leah agreed to an interview with Lynn Ngugi, which had over 165,000 views. At the time, Leah was working as a hotel manager, but when her employer saw her story she was abruptly dismissed.
“People from prison, they need somebody to hold their hands. They suffer from shame, they suffer from rejection. If you don't get anybody to hold your hand, it's very easy to go back to the same crime, Leah says.”
Since that moment, Leah has focused on raising awareness about the dangers of drug trafficking. She hopes she can keep more vulnerable people from falling into the same trap she did. She also wrote a book called “ABORTIVE MISSION” that raises awareness on this topic. She is looking for a publisher to help bring her story to a wider audience.
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Leah recently graduated from a program led by Clean Start that taught her how to coach formerly and currently incarcerated women on reintegrating into society after being released – something she believes is vital.
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