A team of representatives from Kenya’s embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, has reportedly travelled to Hanoi, Vietnam, in a last-minute effort to save Margaret Nduta from a looming execution.
Nduta was sentenced to death by a Vietnamese court after being found guilty of drug trafficking and was set to be executed yesterday evening.
According to Citizen TV, Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing’Oei revealed on Monday, March 17, that Kenya’s ambassadors from Thailand had travelled to Vietnam to negotiate clemency for the 37-year-old.
Sing’Oei noted that Kenya's representatives in Thailand would also negotiate a stay of Nduta’s execution to allow further engagement between Kenya and the Vietnamese government.
The latest development comes a day after the PS disclosed that he held a phone conversation with his Vietnam Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Nguyen Minh Hang over Nduta’s case.
Korir, in a statement on Sunday, March 16, noted that while Nduta’s case was complex and difficult, Nguyen had assured him that Kenya’s petition was under consideration.
“Had a telephone conversation this afternoon with my counterpart, Nguyen Minh Hang, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam, over the matter of Margaret Nduta,” Sing’Oei said.
“I conveyed to Madam Hang the anxiety of the Kenyan people over the impending execution of our national and reiterated our request for a stay of execution to allow our two countries to find a path to resolving the issue,” he added.
Sing’Oei made these remarks in response to Kisii Senator Richard Onyonka, who, alongside other legislators, including Embakasi East Member of Parliament Babu Owino, appealed for President William Ruto’s intervention in the matter.
In his letter dated March 14, Onyonka called on the government to intervene and request clemency in Nduta’s case and for the latter’s repatriation to face fresh charges in Kenya.
Nduta was sentenced to death by lethal injection on March 6 this year after being found guilty of trafficking 2 kilogrammes of cocaine.
The 37-year-old is said to have been working for a man identified as John, who requested her to deliver a suitcase to a woman in Laos. Before her arrest in Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital, Nduta had successfully travelled through three airports.
In her defence, Nduta told the court in Vietnam that she was unaware the drugs were in her suitcase. Her case has raised significant concern among Kenyans as the government continues its relentless efforts to secure her release.
