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She wrote a book in jail after false allure of riches

Daily Nation
Reviewed by FRED MUKINDA
Publication Date: 2/7/2008

Published By: Paulines Publications Africa

Judy Akinyi aka Saga McOdongo saw a business opportunity and grabbed it, but six years later she likened it to trading her livelihood for a prison uniform.Then, she only needed Sh200,000 to invest in “real goods” and the profits would be Sh1 million in as a short time — preferably two weeks.

Her experience in the business, the underworld of drug trafficking, is revealed the book "Deadly Money Maker" she has authored while at the Lang’ata Women Prison.

Judy joins the likes of Ngugi wa Thiong’o and John Kiriamiti who also wrote books while in jail.

Judy was a teacher at the Kenya Polytechnic until 2001 when she was introduced to drug trafficking by one of the most feared operators in the murky business at the time. She was jailed for 11 years for trafficking in drugs but the sentence was commuted on appeal.  She will walk to freedom in the next six months, according to a schedule by prison authorities.

Gain respect

In prison, Judy is first among equals. She was named the headmistress of a school organised within the jail to help educate inmates. She was also in charge of her cell and had also been elevated to a “trustee,” — a title accorded to senior inmates who gain respect of the warders. Stakeholders gathered at the launch, which was celebrated as an indicator of progress in the prison reform programme initiated five years ago.

Queen, as the drug kingpin who introduced Akinyi to the underworld was known, was a mogul with great influence in Government circles. “I could not wait to hear from Queen what had made her so rich. Everybody I know admired her. Her clothing was tasteful, she wore expensive jewellery,” part of Judy's book reads.

Judy was carried away by Queen's fancy lifestyle and the urge to get rich quickly left her with no room for any other consideration. After all, nothing terrible had happened to the kingpin. “I took a loan (of Sh200,000) from my co-operative and delivered the cash to Queen's office, thinking I would be a millionaire in a fortnight,” Judy says. Six weeks later, Judy was informed the money had disappeared with a middle-man who was supposed to bring in a consignment of the “goods” from abroad for sale in Kenya. Judy realised that she had been conned. 

Determined to recover her lost cash, she agreed to travel to Pakistan herself and bring the goods. While in the foreign land, she realised goods, in the underground world, meant hard drugs. She took the flight to Pakistan via Dubai.

Upon arrival, she followed instructions by Queen, which led her to a group of other dealers, from whom she learnt the nature of business. Her travel documents were confiscated upon arrival and she had no way out of the trap for another three months. Her family and employer did not know her whereabouts.

After three months in captivity, Judy was allowed to return home. She left the Karachi airport carrying five kilogrammes of heroin in her suitcase. Another 150 grammes was stuffed in the hand bag. She landed at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to find officers from the anti-narcotic police unit waiting to arrest her. She was seized in the plane and after questioning was arraigned before Kibera Law Courts. The magistrate sentenced her to 11 years in jail for trafficking in drugs and travelling on a forged passport.

Deadly Money Maker also paints a picture of a Kenyan prison before and after the Uncle Moody (former Vice-President Moody Awori) initiated reforms programme. Before the reforms, female inmates suffered a lot in the hands of warders. They would be stripped naked, whipped and denied food for slight mistakes like not acknowledging a warder’s presence.

During the dark prison era, Judy would only manage to write on pieces of tissue paper, contents which she later typed on computer two years later.

Prison jargon

Judy's story brings out to the world the prison jargon, adding taste to the descriptive chapters. 

“Marufuku,” is any item not allowed to be possessed by inmates. Pencils which she had used to record the events in prison were illegal at the time she entered the jail. Some events, as told in the book, would cause even some of the most hardened souls to shed tears.  For instance, a woman once delivered in the cells and was only attended by fellow inmates. Appeals to the night warders to help fell on deaf ears. The new-born baby was “wrapped in lice-invested blankets.” Two elderly inmates, who had assumed the role of midwives “had managed to cut the umbilical cord with an old razor which had been hidden in a crack in the wall,” since a blade was also a marufuku there. While in prison, she had also been transported to another jail in Arlington County in the United States. While in the US, she stood as a witness against Queen, who had been arrested and repatriated there to face drug charges. Queen was jailed for 24 years.