Inmate’s vanishing act shocks warders, family
He was aptly regarded as an academic icon by his peers at the Naivasha Maximum Security Prison; a role model to more than 3,000 inmates.
Peter Kamau Ndung’u, 34, was not your run-of-the-mill inmate, but a revered figure due to his education. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA 3 Section Six) and was pursuing a Bachelor of Commerce degree at the University of Nairobi.
He cut a scholarly figure, having been elevated to a trustee — a title reserved for prisoners who have exhibited a high level of discipline.
He enjoyed a leeway that many of his ilk could only dream of. Always dressed in light blue uniform, the fair skinned, medium height inmate strolled around the prison’s precincts like a carousel, with a black leather bag containing a laptop always strapped on his shoulder.
Due to his “impeccable discipline record” the inmate, who was serving a life sentence for robbery with violence, was minimally watched over by warders.
BIG BLOW
But the scholar has caused something akin to an upheaval within the prison circles, after he bolted away at Kabete Campus where he had been taken to sit his Continuous Assessment Test (CAT) on Wednesday at around 5pm.
He took advantage of the trust accorded to him by the prison authorities to vanish into thin air, to the chagrin of Prison bosses, including the officer in charge of the Naivasha Maximum Prison Patrick Mwenda.
A visibly angry Mr Mwenda could not hide his disdain for an inmate he regarded a ‘son.’
“Am so bitter with what he (Kamau) has done. It is really shocking… his hitherto, mellowed behaviour was a camouflage,” said the Prison boss.
“It a big blow to the education programme and an embarrassment to all those who attended his Harambee last year to contribute for his education programme,” added Mr Mwenda.
The inmate’s brother wrote on Whatsupp: “I believe at this point there is nothing we can do to restore his dented reputation, We have done our best yet he has reduced our efforts to naught. It so sad… lets wait.”