REVEALED: How Kenyan MP’s Daughter Avoided Death Penalty in Malaysia
More issues are being raised about an expatriate’s ability to avoid the death penalty in conservative Middle Eastern countries.
This comes as the country continues to wonder what would happen to Margret Nduta, the Kenyan caught with two kg of cocaine in Vietnam.
Despite Nduta’s assertions that she had no idea what was in the luggage she was traveling with, she was found guilty of narcotics trafficking and sentenced to death by the People’s Court in Ho Chi Minh City on March 6, 2025.
As of Tuesday, March 18, her execution date had passed, with the Kenyan government still attempting to save her life.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently declared that it has opened diplomatic channels through Kenya’s embassy in Thailand, sending a delegation to Hanoi in a desperate bid to secure a pardon.
But, can Nduta avoid the death penalty? This question can only be fully answered if the Vietnamese government responds to the Kenyan government’s demands.
Nduta’s story bears striking similarities to another instance involving Deborah Donde, the daughter of former Gem Member of Parliament Joe Donde.
Deborah and a companion were detained by Malaysian officials in 2006 on suspicions of trafficking marijuana in the nation.
The two girls were seized while staying at a Saudi Arabian friend’s house in Cyberjaya, near Kuala Lumpur.
Police recovered 4 kilograms of marijuana throughout the investigation, resulting in the duo’s arrest.
The incident made headlines in Kenya at the time because Deborah was a well-known name, especially as her father was the immediate former Gem MP.
The matter drew the attention of the Kenyan government, with Raphael Tuju, Kenya’s Minister of Foreign Affairs during President Mwai Kibaki’s administration, stating the two students will be arraigned with state-hired counsel.
Drug trafficking in Malaysia, like in Vietnam, is a serious felony punishable by severe punishments, including death.
Notably, the rules surrounding narcotics are so tight that anyone found with big amounts of them is considered to be trafficked. In this situation, they could receive the death penalty.
With the severity of the punishment in mind, the stakes were high for Deborah, 18, and her friend, who received some relief when marijuana tests came back negative.
The former Gem MP revealed the negative drug test results in November 2006.
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Deborah’s case is readily classed as one of a lucky escape, as drug suspects in Malaysia rarely leave unhurt.
Since the passage of drug-related regulations in 1981, the country is said to have executed over 100 people by 2006. Foreigners accounted for one-third of that total.
Around the same time, another Kenyan, a fourth-year Bachelor of Arts student at the University of Nairobi, received a life sentence after admitting to carrying 1.8 kilograms of heroin.
After her release, Deborah did an interview with 98.4 Capital FM where she refuted claims that she was a drug dealer, saying she was simply ‘at the wrong place at the wrong time’.
REVEALED: How Kenyan MP’s Daughter Avoided Death Penalty in Malaysia
