The visually impaired man serving a life sentence regrets one thing: accepting a meal in a barmaid’s house which ended up being akin to ‘kissing a live naked electric wire.’So says the man who was transferred to Kamiti from Nakuru Maximum Prison in 2013.
David Kamau Thutho was not blind. He claims to have been a village tycoon, but life at Kamiti Maximum Prison in Nairobi is a different ball game. He struggles to survive. He can’t see.
The father of four attributes his misfortunes to alcohol which he frequently took, popping into village pubs in South Kinangop where he often spoilt his friends with nyama choma washed down with drinks.
“I used to enjoy my drink at the village bar and I was known for my generosity. Back then, I drove a Mazda CC13, but I didn’t know that a request from a female friend to have a meal at her house would land me into trouble. She worked at one of the local bars,” recalls the now 65-year-old of the day that changed his life five years ago.
Thutho tagged along a friend identified as Mwangi Wainaina who was later found dead at the barmaid’s house.
He is serving a life sentence for the murder after being arrested as the prime suspect.
Thutho recalls the happenings of that day very well.
“The barmaid served us food, but I received a phone call from my mechanic because I had left my car at the garage. On my way back to the garage, I met the barmaid’s husband heading to the house where I had left my friend. I took a nap inside my car as the mechanic went on with the repair until 3 pm. Some guys came to the garage and woke me up and told me that my friend has been found dead after being brutally beaten. I was shocked because I had left him in the woman’s place. Later I was arrested, charged and sentenced to death until last year when the president placed us under life sentence.”
“I was summoned by police to record a statement because I was the last person who was seen with the deceased. When I reached to the police station, I narrated how things unfolded on that fateful day and after telling the police that I had met the barmaid’s husband on his way to the house, that’s when things worsened because immediately, I was held in custody and told that I was only going to be released when the woman’s husband resurfaces because he could not be traced. Up to date, he has never been found, which makes me the only suspect in the murder case.”
The barmaid was a key witness who exonerated him.
“She told the court that I was not the one who committed the offence but I was found guilty and sentenced to death. I have appealed the case but it has been unsuccessful though I have not given up”.
Thutho lost his eye sight when he was a remandee in Nakuru in 2011, which saw the end of his Bible classes.
Doctors at the Kenyatta National Hospital diagnosed him with high blood pressure.
Further, referrals to Thogoto hospital and the Kikuyu Mission Hospital pegged his problems to glaucoma which affects the nervous system.
“It’s not easy to be in prison, and worse, being blind. I never thought life could turn out this way. My transport business was doing well. I used to supply cabbages to the entire Kinangop. Look at me now, I’m helpless.”
His wife and children stood by him though their visits have since reduced due to lack of bus fare.
Thutho, now a born again Christian and battling depression, says; “I was to undergo surgery this year but due to lack of money the operation was halted. The doctor asked for Sh6,700 for surgery and Sh2,000 for medication but I can’t afford it. If only I could see again I have no problem spending my entire life in prison. That’s my wish.”
He thanks Henry Kisingu, an officer in charge of Kamiti Prison who often checks on him.
