kenya

Simon Wambua Mbuvi, 44, earned a living in Kenya as a farm labourer.

Now, he will spend the rest of his life in a Chinese jail, joining 30 other Kenyans languishing there for various crimes.

Two weeks ago, the Chinese Intermediate People’s Court of Guangzhou Municipality in Guangdong Province found him guilty of trafficking drugs concealed inside his stomach into Chinese territory.

Court documents obtained by the Nation show that Chief Judge Hu Peng and colleagues Wen Fangdao and Huang Jian found Mbuvi had about 947 grammes of cocaine in his stomach and gave him a life sentence.

Under the Chinese criminal law, he would be facing a death penalty had the amount been a kilo or more. Except Mbuvi was not a veteran trafficker.