Who’s Margaret Nduta Macharia? 

The media blitz to save Macharia from death by lethal injection in Vietnam was in full swing by the middle of last week.

Although Macharia was sentenced to death on March 6 for drug trafficking, the news did not hit the headlines in Kenya until it became an eleventh-hour crisis, sparking a sudden burst of diplomatic activity and public concern. 

Kenyan media did not appear to have reported on her arrest and subsequent trial, though we now know that she was arrested in July 2023 at the international airport in Ho Chi Minh City after more than 2.3kg of cocaine was discovered hidden in her luggage.  

Until the middle of this month, no member of Macharia’s family had spoken to the media about her legal troubles abroad, and no political figure had championed her cause.

But with execution looming – originally scheduled for March 17 before it was delayed following Kenya’s diplomatic intervention – Macharia has become a cause célèbre.  

The case has divided public opinion, with two distinct camps emerging. Naturally, the tough-on-crime side argues that if you do the crime, you must be prepared to do the time, suggesting that Macharia deserves what she got.

Meanwhile, a second, more empathetic group wants the government to help save Macharia’s life, and it seems to be the one enjoying greater influence with the help of the media. 

Macharia’s family in Murang’a County has appealed for help from officials, proposing that Kenya ask Vietnam to reduce her sentence or repatriate her to serve time in a Kenyan prison.

Political figures have amplified these calls, including Kisii Senator Richard Onyonka, whose March 14 open letter to President William Ruto framed Macharia’s situation as demanding “urgent diplomatic intervention to safeguard her fundamental rights and explore the possibility of clemency and repatriation”. 

The full truth is elusive in this case, clouded by elements of money, potential deception, and competing storylines. Only Macharia and whoever gave her the drug-laden suitcase know for sure what transpired.

Taking Macharia’s account at face value – that she unknowingly carried drugs after a fellow Kenyan gave her the suitcase in exchange for $1,300 (about Sh168,000) and covered her travel expenses to Laos – prompts an examination of her particular vulnerability. 

The Kenyan government has formally backed Macharia by filing an appeal that likely emphasises humanitarian considerations: her reported limited education as a high school dropout and low-income background.

Research indicates that young adults between 18-30 are particularly susceptible to drug trafficking recruitment because of their perceived naiveté, desire for financial independence, and ignorance of legal consequences – though at 37, Macharia falls outside this demographic. 

Now, Sh168,000 may not seem like a life-changing sum, but a person living in poverty – with few employment opportunities that can pay that kind of money, in a country with no reliable social safety net – could have seen the paid-for trip to Laos as worth the gamble despite the risks. 

It’s not clear when Macharia’s appeal will be heard but the outcomes of previous similar appeals could offer her some hope.

Death sentence commutations in drug trafficking cases are not unheard of in Vietnam. In November 2016, for example, an appeals court in Hanoi reduced 73-year-old Australian national Nguyen Thi Huong’s death penalty to life in prison. 

Arrested two years earlier with 1.58kg of heroin concealed in 36 bars of soap and initially sentenced to death, Huong’s punishment was reduced to life imprisonment based on her “sincere confession and age”. Like Macharia, Huong had maintained she was unaware of the drugs hidden in her bags. 

Macharia’s bare-bones story fell on the media’s lap as a result of a campaign orchestrated by her family and their advocates.

But more than a week after we first heard about her, she remains an enigma. Is she an impoverished high school dropout preyed on by international drug cartels or a seasoned trafficker who had the bad luck of getting caught? 

— The writer is a Sub-Editor with People Daily