We forgive and miss you, family tells son serving life for killing father

By CONSOLATA SIGAR

A fight over family land in Kitui 18 years ago, left a family devastated having lost their patriarch and a son serving life in prison for the murder.

Mboya Ndindi was 37-years-old when he swung a panga he said was aimed at his brother but missed and landed on his father killing him on the spot.

For almost two decades, not a single family member showed up at the fortified gates of Kamiti Maximum Prison seeking to have a word with the now 55-year-old Ndindi.

It is understandable why they would wish to never associate with him ever again, having murdered their father in a moment of rage in 2001.

According to Ndindi, he last saw his family the same day of the incident. In the 18 years, a lot has happened back at home; his wife packed up and left when he was arrested and later sentenced.

His own mother, who witnessed the death of her husband at the hands of her own son, died after an illness and no one showed up to inform him.

Speaking to Citizen TV’s Lulu Hassan, Mr. Ndindi narrated how a scuffle with his brother cost him his freedom, his life and worst of all, his father’s life.

“My brother had hit me on the head with a stick and I was bleeding, out of anger, I decided to revenge. I picked a panga that was lying next to me and swung it towards my brother,” he recalls.

But, Ndindi says, in the process, the father moved in between his sons to try and stop the fight and in the process, the panga landed on his head killing him.

Ndindi swears that he did not have any intention of killing anyone that day.

“I surrendered immediately but only came to deeply regret my deeds at around 3 am when I was sitting all alone and started reflecting on what had happened,” he recalls.

“When my mother asked me in the morning why I did what I did, I told her it wasn’t intentional… I did not understand why they would think of selling land without involving me in the negotiations.”

Ndindi pleaded guilty to the murder as “I didn’t want to go through the long court processes and I wanted to save everyone from the trauma that would follow with the court visits.”

Lulu, with Ndindi’s help, managed to track down the family and seek to see if they would be willing to meet with him and reconcile.

Asked which family member he misses the most, Ndindi, without a missing a beat said his elder sister.

“I would love to see Katui, our first born sister,” he said.

When Lulu tracked Katui down, she was more than happy to see her younger brother and together with the younger sister, they set for Kamiti Maximum Prison.

It was a room full of emotions when the sisters laid eyes on their brother for the first time in 18 years and it was the same case for Ndindi.

“How are you doing? Sorry for not visiting you ever since you came here, it’s lack of money that made us not to come,” revealed Katui who said the family also didn’t know where he was jailed.

Ndindi on his part told the sisters the main reason he wanted to meet them was to ask for forgiveness for his actions.

“I am glad that you came, all I ever wanted was to see you and to ask for your forgiveness, to know how you were doing and to also let you know of my welfare. God is great,” responded Ndindi.

Katui informed the brother that the family had since forgiven him.

“We have all forgiven you and everyone misses you at home. We know it was not your fault and we are so happy to see you,” she said.