- After serving four years for a cow theft case, Kilatya fought to study behind bars and sat for KCSE in 2025.
- Magistrate Eugene Pascal, who sentenced him, later became his mentor and helped secure sponsorship for further studies.
- Kilatya has joined Africa Nazarene University (ANU) to pursue a Certificate in Business Management, with well‑wishers supporting his tuition and upkeep.
By Gastone Valusi
Four years after a Sh1,000 errand cost him his freedom, 34-year-old Mwendwa Kilatya is beginning an entirely different chapter of his life. The former inmate has been admitted to Africa Nazarene University to pursue a Certificate in Business Management for the August 2026 semester, capping a journey that took him from a crowded Coast prison cell to a university lecture hall.
It is a story built on second chances, books donated behind bars, and a refusal to give up even when the odds were firmly stacked against him.
A Cow, a Court Ruling, and Four Years Behind Bars
Kilatya’s ordeal began in 2021, when he was arrested in Mpeketoni for delivering a cow to a butcher, unaware that the animal had been stolen. He pleaded guilty, insisting he was merely a messenger in the transaction, but the court gave him a stark choice: four years in prison or a Sh100,000 fine. With no way of raising the fine, he was sent to jail.
Life inside was harsh. “One small room can hold up to ten inmates,” Kilatya recalls. “Even sleeping is a problem. The heat is relentless.” Worse still, there was no opportunity to continue his education. “Wardens told us we did not come to prison to study,” he says.
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Fighting for a Classroom Behind Bars
Determined not to let incarceration end his education, Kilatya, who had dropped out of school in Form Three, approached prison teacher Mr Frank Maduga with what seemed an impossible request: start a school inside the facility. After a series of letters and an inspection by the Ministry of Education, a learning centre was finally registered, and Kilatya joined its pioneer class.
“He was hardworking and gave us the morale to continue teaching,” Mr Maduga says of his former student. “Even with the congestion, even with the heat, he would sit and read.”
By 2025, five inmates, Kilatya among them, sat for their Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations. He scored a D Plain, a grade he credits in part to words of encouragement from Wamunyu Senior Resident Magistrate Eugene Pascal, delivered during a visit to Hindu Prison.
Returning to the Judge Who Sent Him to Prison
Life after release brought fresh challenges: stigma, joblessness and no money for further studies. Rather than retreat, Kilatya made a bold decision. He tracked down Magistrate Pascal, the very judicial officer who had sentenced him, at Wamunyu Law Courts in Mwala.
“I looked for you because it is difficult to get a job without certificates. I wanted to do Business Management,” Kilatya told the magistrate.
Pascal was visibly moved by the encounter. “I’m happy that Mwendwa has reformed and is ready to pursue education,” he said. “I don’t have the money myself, but I will look for friends who can sponsor him.”
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A New Chapter at Africa Nazarene University
That promise soon bore fruit. On July 17, 2026, Africa Nazarene University offered Kilatya a place to pursue a Certificate in Business Management. For him, the admission represents far more than a course of study; it is, in his words, a chance to “dress smart and get a decent job.”
“I will consider studying further as opportunities arise,” he says, even as he continues doing casual jobs at construction sites in Machakos to get by while he awaits sponsors to help with his fees.
On Friday, Kilatya was all smiles as Magistrate Pascal, who has since become his mentor and guardian, personally drove him from Machakos town to Africa Nazarene University in Ongata Rongai, Kajiado County, after securing his admission. The magistrate also paid part of his first semester’s tuition fees.
Speaking after dropping him off at the university, Pascal said he was grateful and humbled to have played a role in enrolling Kilatya at ANU. “It is my prayer that more well-wishers will come forward to help and make him achieve his dreams, because he needs more support to ensure his studies and stay at the university are not interrupted,” he said.
To support Kilatya’s education, well-wishers can contribute through paybill number 7291071, account number CBM 2027/083, toward his tuition fees of Sh56,625, as well as accommodation, meals and other related costs.
The cow that cost Mwendwa Kilatya four years of his freedom, it seems, also led him to a prison classroom. And now, that classroom has led him to college.
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