Life has not been easy for Jane Njoki since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The mother of three earned a living by selling secondhand blazers in Nairobi’s CBD but was left jobless when the pandemic struck.
Life was hard enough for her. She decided to go back home since she couldn’t afford to pay rent for her house; although her siblings and mother supported her, but it was not enough.
Njoki returned to her mother’s home in Nadiya, Kiambu County, with her third child and Abigail’s last born.
She thought this was her haven from the hardships of the world, but it quickly turned out to be a nightmare that landed her in prison for three years.
Narrating to Inooro TV’s Najera-in City, Njoki says her mother quickly grew tired of supporting them, and she became quarrelsome.
“When I returned home, my mother who has been supporting me became quarrelsome. My mother started complaining about food and soap,” she recounts tears flowing down her cheeks at the Langa’ata Women’s Prison.
Njoki recalls that one day when her mother woke up and locked them in a room together with her daughter for two days without feeding them.
“One day she woke up very angry. I don’t know about farming, so when I went to the farm, I would end up uprooting some plant and my mother got so angry and she locked us in one room.”
On the fateful day, her mother unlocked the room where they were locked for two days and quarreled with her. She picked a gas pipe attempting to hit her, and it is here that she pushed her and she fell to the ground.
“She wanted to hit me because she was angry. So I pushed her just before she hit me and she fell down, Njoki says remorsefully, adding she was so consumed by rage at the time.
After that, she begged for forgiveness, but her mother would hear none of that. Her fate was sealed by a group of women from the village who after a meeting with her mother called for her arrest.
Before sentencing by the Limuru law courts, she stayed in remand for six months which will be deducted from her three-year sentence.
Now, she is serving one and a half years in Lang’ata where she still appeals for forgiveness.
Njoki thanks the correctional facility for treating her mils stroke that came after a sustained episode of high blood pressure.
She had been depressed since last year, and it got worse after her arrest.
Njoki can pay a Ksh30,000 fine and walk free; else, she serves her full sentence. She appealed to Kenyans of goodwill to help her out promising good behavior.
