Nduta’s family refutes claims that she had been arrested multiple times before Vietnam incident
The family of Margaret Nduta, a Kenyan national facing execution in Vietnam for drug trafficking, has come out to debunk viral claims that she had been arrested multiple times before she was finally caught in the Southeast Asian country with a cocaine consignment.
Speaking on Saturday, March 22, 2025, her twin sister, Wambui Macharia, made it clear that all the claims being spread about her sister were false and urged those alleging that the Vietnam arrest was not her first to stop.
According to her, Nduta had never once left Kenya to work or for any other reason, and the Vietnam incident was actually her first time travelling abroad.
“Kwa majina naitwa Wambui Macharia, twin sister ya Nduta ambaye ako huko Vietnam. Nataka kuambia watu wa social media vile wanasema ati amewahi toka Kenya, hajawahi toka Kenya na hajawahi shikwa mara mingi,” she said.
Growing up
According to Wambui, Nduta had struggled through life, doing hard hustles to sustain herself while in Kenya, with her last job being under the government’s Kazi Mtaani programme, which, upon ending, left her in even deeper struggles.
She shared that she had grown up with her and knew everything about her since they had never separated from the time they were in primary school.
Wambui added that their move to Nairobi was because they got an opportunity to be hosted by their aunt in Rongai, and that was when they started hustling on their own before managing to rent a house together in Ruai.
“Nduta tulizaliwa siku moja na yeye na tumesoma pamoja primary na yeye na tulifika Form Two pamoja na yeye. Na tulitoka nyumbani tukaja Nairobi, tukaenda side ya Rongai kwa aunt yangu, tukajifunza course ya salon na tukaenda Ruai. Tumekuwa tukiishi Ruai na yeye na kila kitu tumekuwa tukifanya pamoja. Kila kitu. Lakini ile time tuliwacha kufanya kazi pamoja, tukifanya kazi mtaani, vile iliisha, akaingia kwa shida,” she explained.
Nduta’s verdict
Nduta was convicted on March 6, 2025, for trafficking two kilogrammes of cocaine and her execution had been scheduled for Sunday, March 16, 2025.
She was arrested in July 2023 while en route to Laos, where authorities discovered the illicit substances in her possession.
Vietnam has some of the world’s strictest narcotics laws, with anyone found guilty of trafficking 100 grammes or more of heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, or amphetamine facing the death penalty.
Yet, despite the harsh laws, drug trafficking remains rampant.
In 2023 alone, authorities arrested 41,400 suspects in connection with 26,469 drug-related cases—up from 36,000 traffickers and 24,000 cases recorded in 2022, according to data from the Ministry of Public Security.
The government has since been facing pressure to recue her, and throughout the whole time, her family has been insisting that she was framed.
“We are devastated as a family. We cannot believe that Nduta—the daughter we know to be upright and who only left the country in 2023 to seek better opportunities—could have been involved in drug trafficking,” the family lamented while pleading for intervention to overturn the verdict.”
