When fathers go to prison, children pay

Aggrey Mbai,an inmate at Kamiti Prisons serving life imprisonment with her daughter Sylvia Mboni, during an interview with The Standard.[David Njaaga,Standard]

Sylvia Mboni sits on a white plastic chair near the back door of the worship hall at Kamiti Maximum Security Prison.

Her eyes gaze at her father wearing a blue suit; he stands before a congregation consisting of clergy, political leaders and inmates at the fortified confinement in Nairobi.

Donned in a greyish jumper and black pair of trousers, Sylvia constantly rubs her eyes with the palm of her hand and fidgets, before leaning on her back to have a better look at her father, Aggrey Mbai.

He left her in 2000, the year she was born.

After a brief narration from her 59-year old father on how he fell into the company of bad friends that misled him into an orgy of roberies in Nairobi leading to his arrest and life imprisonment, Mbai asks his daughter to stand and wave at the congregants.

Trapped in prison

“Her desire to see me go home has not waned despite her knowing that I am serving a life sentence,” says Aggrey as Sylvia slowly rises to her feet.

The listeners cheer the slim girl with a dark complexion, wearing a beautiful black elastic necklace.

She abruptly sits after making a quick hand wave at her father, now popular in prison for being a preacher, motivational speaker, author, third year theology student and singer.

But behind the smile she wears, Sylvia is also trapped in a prison outside the tall walls of Kamiti.

But the 18-year-old dares to dream, albeit weakly. Still, she feels condemned, just like her father, and yearns for a time when freedom will reign.

For over 15 years, she looked for her father and asked about his whereabouts, as her mother kept her in the dark.

Her siblings would only whisper about their father, who was to them a distant memory.

His entry into prison has kept the family away from the man who once worked at an Asian-owned firm, until the long arm of the law caught up with him.

“Mum used to say I was too young to understand. Some neighbours told me he was dead. I did not relent.

“I kept asking until three years ago when mum told me the truth and we came to visit him,” says Sylvia.

Unfortunately, the father and daughter reunion could not extend beyond hugs and smiles as prison officials were not allowed to open the gate for the imprisoned father, who has authored a book, Life Equals Seasons and Times.

“I wanted to be a lawyer but I did not manage to go beyond Form Two. Perhaps things would have been easier had dad not been confined here,” she says.

Sylvia says her absent father forced her mother, Jessica Mbai to provide solely for the large family living in Vihiga County.

“Mum has been struggling. It has been hard but it got worse when she developed a chronic illness in 2016, rendering her incapable of doing any work,” says Sylvia.

Abandon studies

Last year, Sylvia had to abandon her studies at St Peters Secondary School in Eldoret. “There was no one to pay my fees, and so I was sent home. My dreams were shattered,” she says.

The same fate befell her older siblings. Her sister, 24-year-old Elizabeth Mbai says she had to suspend her schooling at some point due to lack of fees.

“I was supposed to join Form One in 2007 but I had to suspend my studies until 2009, when I joined a day school in Vihiga,” she says.

Elizabeth regrets that she could not accompany her sister to Kamiti last Sunday when she visited their father because she was working.

“I work as a salesperson at a private firm in Nairobi. I have to work to help our ailing mother,” she says.

Unlike Sylvia and Elizabeth, Patrick Muchira was saved from a life of hopelessness by good samaritans. His father, Lawrence Muchira is also a prisoner at Kamiti.

During the thanksgiving at the facility in recognition of Mercy Nungari, a gospel artist who has been nurturing inmates’ talents, Patrick said the support from well wishers has seen him continue with his studies at the Kenyatta University, where he is pursuing an undergraduate course.

Mercy, who is also an evangelist and nominated Member of Kiambu County Assembly has been supporting inmates who have interests in music by providing them with recording equipment, besides mentoring them.

“Life has been hard but I trudge on; God used some people to help me,” says Lawrence as he embraces his father at the dais.

On the contrary, Dickson Munene, 40, a former police inspector serving a life sentence at the facility for murder, knows little of the daughter he left when she was only three.

“She has not visited me, and neither has her mother. I love my daughter,” says Munene as he fights back tears.

Mercy says philanthropists need to help children whose parents are in prison to prevent young ones from going astray.

“If we do not support children whose parents are in jail, they are likely to suffer psychologically and some may get into crime,” says Mercy.

Although it pains Sylvia that her ambitions have been imprisoned by challenges, she consoles herself that she has a loving dad who inspires her to stay positive at all times.

When her father sang her his song titled, Amini Mungu, Sylvia could not hold back her tears. “I love him and I am praying for a miracle to have him released,” she says.