Retired socialite Pesh Lema opens up about her imprisonment in Ghana for smuggling drugs
Retired Kenyan socialite Peninah Lema Munyithya, widely known as Pesh Lema, has finally shared the events that led to her spending seven and a half years in a Ghanaian prison.
Speaking during a candid interview with Oga Obinna, Pesh narrated the events leading up to her trip to Ghana, which ultimately resulted in her arrest.
She revealed that before the trip, she was introduced to a friend of a friend who wanted her to meet while in Ghana.
Pesh recalled spending the night before her flight at a luxurious Nairobi hotel, where the boyfriend of her friend persuaded her to switch suitcases, saying hers was not suitable for making a good impression on the wealthy person she was set to meet in Ghana.
She claimed that before packing her belongings, she thoroughly inspected the suitcase but found nothing suspicious.
“You know, I was a socialite travelling here and there, and then I met a friend who introduced me to the boyfriend’s Ghanaian friend, and I was travelling to Ghana just for a normal trip, ilenaenda, just to have fun, and this boyfriend of my friend told her, ‘Tell Pesh to come to be around with us; si anaenda kuona beshte yangu; maybe naweza mtuma; wacha akae hapa karibu,” Pesh narrated.
“I packed my stuff and went there since I was fleeing the following day in the morning, and the guy was like, ‘You see, my friend is a rich person. Why are you carrying this small suitcase? Take this big one. When you come back, you will fill it up with shopping. I said, Okay, I checked that suitcase everywhere, and I found nothing suspicious, and I packed my stuff.
Genesis of Pesh’s woes
The next day, she headed to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), cleared security checks without any issues, and boarded her flight to Ghana. However, her troubles began as soon as she landed.
She successfully cleared customs but was singled out by authorities for a random luggage check as she exited the airport. Initially, she thought nothing of it and even wondered why she was the one being selected.
However, things took a turn when she was taken to an interrogation room, where authorities unpacked her suitcase and discovered a brown envelope containing narcotics.
“In the morning the friend escorted me to the airport; we checked in na tukapita vizuri, nikaland Ghana, then nikacheck out pale. Then this guy came and started to ask me questions, and he was like, Let me check your bags, but I asked him why he was singling me out, and he said it was random,” she said.
“He said the bag was heavy; we went to a room, and he dismantled the bag, and at the bottom of the bag there was a brown envelope, and I was shocked. They thought I was pretending, but I had never even seen such drugs before.”
Despite the shocking discovery, Pesh remained unaware of the seriousness of the situation, maintaining her composure and socialite demeanour. She explained how she requested to call the person she was supposed to meet, but the authorities declined.
“I was like, let me call the person I was going to meet, and at that time they had already taken my phone because the bag belonged to my friend, but they did not let me; I was just dumb. I thought it was a joke. I was even applying more lipstick. My mindset was that these drugs were not mine, and nothing would happen. I believed that during their investigations, they would find the real owner,” she stated.
She further narrated that she was taken to the anti-narcotic department and tried calling the person she was supposed to meet in Ghana after the authorities allowed her to later in the evening, but her efforts were futile before being transferred to a high-level detention facility, where she spent time with suspects of corruption and drug smuggling.
Pesh went on to say that she was later presented in court and charged with trafficking and possession of narcotics. Despite having a lawyer, she explained that once drugs were found in someone’s possession, it became extremely difficult to prove innocence.
“Then they took me to the anti-narcotic office. I arrived at 9 am, and later in the evening, around 5 pm they gave me the phone to call the person, but he did not pick up, she shared.
“I was taken to high-level detention for a week, and then after seven days, the court gave a warrant that I was to be taken to prison over charges of trafficking and possession of drugs. As long as you have been arrested with it in your possession, it will be very hard to convince people that you did not have it. You can say it’s not yours and even bring the real owner, but both of you can still be sentenced because it’s your word against theirs.
Pesh’s sentence
Pesh was eventually convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison. However, she served seven years and six months before being released on good behaviour at the end of 2022.
She revealed that during her time in jail, she gave her life to Christ, started a new chapter, and also enrolled in school, where she pursued a degree in Bachelor of Commerce.
Content in the envelope
When asked what was inside the brown envelope, she said it was heroin that weighed 4 kg.
“Nini ilikuwa kwa hiyo envelope ya brown,” Obinna asked, “heroin,” she answered to which Obinna further asked; “Kilo ngapi?”
“I think it was around four kg,” she answered.
Pesh explained that the drugs were so well hidden in the suitcase that she never suspected anything.
“Let me tell you, these people are very smart. I searched that bag properly, and that’s why I could not believe it,” she added.
