Last weekend, in Nakuru, Kenya, Charles Kinyua, who was released from prison a month ago, finally wedded his wife Josephine Wanjiru, in church.
She waited for him all through the 27 years he spent in prison, until he was included among the reformed convicts pardoned by President Uhuru in December.
She waited for him all through the 27 years he spent in prison, until he was included among the reformed convicts pardoned by President Uhuru in December.
Kinyua was sentenced to death in 1988 after he was found guilty of armed robbery and served time at the Kamti Maximum Prison. In 2013, he was declared a reformed man by Reverend Muthungu who also officiated the wedding.
“When we went to Kamti Maximum Prison, Mr Kinyua caught our attention by how organised he was,” Reverend Muthungu told the audience at the wedding ceremony. “He worked faithfully and was a leader of the other inmates and we did not have any doubt that he had transformed. He used to tell us on how he had lost hope of ever leaving the prison.”
Speaking with the press, Josephine Wanjiru said she always hoped that Kinyua would eventually be released, and then she narrated how difficult life had been living as a single mother and raising their two children.
“I prayed to God when it dawned on me that at my young age l was going to stay without my husband,” Wanjiru said, crying. “It is through God’s grace that l never got re-married. When he was arrested I saw darkness and I was still very young and I thought it was the end of the world. I contemplated committing suicide.”
“When our firstborn joined school, he had a difficult time when the teacher asked him to write the name of his parents,” she continued. “He later started questioning me on where his father was and I had to tell him. When I received news that he had been released from prison I fainted. When l gained consciousness, I spent two sleepless nights celebrating with my family.”
For Kinyua, he acquired skills and became an accomplished mechanic.
Source: Daily Nation
