by Philip Mwakio

The bad-boy of American film Nicholas Cage is in the country on a mercy mission targeting inmates in a Kenyan prison.

The award-winning actor best known for his flamboyant and eccentric roles in films such as National Treasure, Con Air, Lord of War and Adaptation, among others, arrived under the cover of darkness on Monday night. Few passengers accompanying him on a flight from Nairobi to Mombasa could recognise him.

(Right) Hollywood actor Nicolas Cage and Executive Director United Nations office on drugs and crime, Antonio Costa (Second right) with inmates and officials at Shimo la Tewa Prison. Photos: Omondi Onyango /Standard

The 45-year-old actor arrived in Mombasa after flying in from Kampala in Uganda, where he spent two days raising awareness on war victims, such as those in Uganda’s Gulu region in the northern part of the country that has been devastated by child abduction and rape orchestrated by the Lords Resistance Army.

Cage, who is also an ardent human rights activist, is reported to have been moved by the grim images from Gulu that he saw while attending a funds drive in New York in the US.

Flanked by his aides and spotting a moustache, Cage appeared in a hurry as he tried to evade cameramen at the Moi International Airport arrival lounge at around midnight on Monday.

Cage is touring under the auspices of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and on Tuesday visited Shimo la Tewa Maximum Security Prison where he inaugurated a modern energy-saving kitchen funded by the UN office.

UNODC executive director Antonio Maria Costa and programmes coordinator Allan Cole, as well as Shimo la Tewa officer in charge Wanini Keriri, conducted Cage on an extensive tour of the facility.

The UN body is also undertaking several infrastructure upgrade projects at the correctional facility. Apart from the new kitchen, UNODC is also involved in constructing staff houses and recreational facilities at Shimo la Tewa.

During his tour, Cage chatted with prisoners including the Somali pirates being held at the facility. "We have seen the prison facility and are amazed at the reforms and skills being imparted on them as they serve their jail terms," Cage was reported to have said as he left the facility.

He and his entourage were entertained by prisoners before presenting certificates to prison warders who have been supportive of UNODC projects at the prisons.

The son of a comparative literature professor from Long Beach, California made a debut in television in 1981 and has never looked back since.

The Hollywood actor has appeared in over 60 films, picking an Oscar for National Treasure, among other awards, in a career spanning more than two decades.

In the movie, Cage plays an eccentric historian who goes on a dangerous adventure to find treasure hidden by the founding fathers of the United States.

Cage is staying at the Mombasa Serena Hotel, and the management of the four-star hotel, a member of the Club Best Resorts of the World, said they were not sparing any effort in pampering their famous guest. An exclusive breakfast on the beach designed for Cage and three others was laid out on the white sandy beach yesterday.

Last evening, a dinner was set at sunset at the popular hotel’s Jahazi Grill, which specialises in seafood.

Sources told The Standard that Cage had ordered drinks that had never been asked for since the hotel was built in 1975. The menu consisted of a 24-course meal and Cage was said to be keen on devouring his favourite dish – lobster thermidor.

The lobsters are first removed from the shells and fried with spices then cream and cheese added before being put back in the shells. The actor is expected to fly back to the US Wednesday morning.