A prison guard who helped ODM leader Raila Odinga sneak out letters to his wife Ida Odinga during his detention at Manyani and Shimo La Tewa Maximum prisons has opened up.
In an interview with the Star, the 75-year-old retired warder said he has been close to the ODM leader since his incarceration days.
Mzee John Mwavuda said he used his position to consistently link Raila with his family during the detention period between 1989 and 1990.
“I was in charge of taking all the letters to the headquarters in Nairobi. I would use that chance to meet with Raila’s family and his close friends,” he said.
Mwavuda served as a prison warder for 31 years and retired in September 1997.
He now lives in solitude at his Ndelemani home in Tausa, Voi.
“I lost my wife to cancer in 2016 and am all alone here with my two grandchildren, who are orphans,” he said.
Since retirement, he said he has joined small-scale farming and livestock keeping to feed his grandchildren.
Mwavuda met ODM leader Raila Odinga on Tuesday during his tour of Mbololo in Taita Taveta.
Raila described Mzee John Mwavuda as a special man who risked his life to smuggle in pieces of toilet paper that he used to write to his family and friends.
“John also doubled as the official courier for the prison and I would deliberately write official letters which would trigger him to be sent to Nairobi,” the former prime minister said.
He said Mwavuda risked his life selflessly by delivering messages that kept him going during those dark days.
“He is a person I will be forever indebted to and I will support a project that is close to his heart that he has told me about, to fruition. He has now lost most of his close family and let us all pray for strength and comfort for him,” Raila said.
Mwavudaa appealed to well-wishers to help him send the two grandchildren to an orphanage since he can hardly manage them due to his old age.
He says he unsuccessfully enrolled for the cash transfer programme for the elderly.
“I have never received the elderly stipend money despite numerous applications. They also sidelined me in the recent money set aside to cushion the elderly against the effects of the coronavirus,” he lamented.
When he met Raila, Mzee John said he asked him to push for power connection to his Ndelemani village, which has never been connected to the grid.
He also asked him to buy an interlocking brick making machine for a local youth group in the area to create jobs for them.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris
