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Vietnam’s Supreme People’s Court in Ho Chi Minh City on July 31, 2025 commuted the death sentence of 37-year-old Kenyan national Margaret Nduta Macharia to life imprisonment.
Nduta had been convicted in March 2025 of trafficking more than two kilograms of cocaine after Vietnamese authorities discovered the drugs hidden in a false compartment of her suitcase at Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport while she was in transit between Ethiopia and Laos.
Original conviction and sentence
On March 6, 2025 the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court imposed a death sentence on Nduta under Vietnam’s 2015 Penal Code, which at that time required capital punishment for trafficking over 100 grams of certain narcotics.
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Margaret Macharia Nduta
Nduta’s case drew attention in Kenya after her family reported concerns that she had not received adequate legal representation during the initial trial.
The commutation follows the enactment of a landmark amendment to Vietnam’s Criminal Code passed by the National Assembly on June 25, 2025 and effective from July 1, 2025.
The reform abolished the death penalty for eight categories of offence, including illegal transportation of narcotics.
Under transitional provisions all existing death sentences for offences now exempted by the amendment were automatically reduced to life imprisonment by the Supreme People’s Court, including Nduta's.
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Eligibility for presidential clemency
As a prisoner serving a life term Nduta is now eligible to petition the Office of the President of Vietnam for clemency.
The clemency process involves a formal application detailing her circumstances and any evidence of rehabilitation.
If approved by the President’s office her term could be further reduced.
Clemency could also open the door to a transfer request allowing her to serve the remainder of her sentence in Kenya pending agreement between the two governments.
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Diplomatic and advocacy efforts
The Kenyan Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs in Nairobi engaged directly with Vietnamese authorities throughout Nduta’s appeal.
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File image of Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing'oei
Officials sought a stay of execution and advocated for application of the new law to her case.
At the same time human rights organisations in Kenya, among them Amnesty International-Kenya, campaigned on her behalf.
They emphasised that Nduta was a low-level courier and not the mastermind of a wider trafficking network.
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More than 1,100 Kenyans detained internationally
Nduta’s case highlights the precarious position of Kenyan travellers who find themselves subject to strict foreign legal systems.
According to the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, roughly 200 Kenyan nationals are currently serving sentences abroad for drug-related offences in countries including India, China, Pakistan, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
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In total more than 1,100 Kenyans are detained internationally for various crimes.
The Supreme People’s Court ruling is final under current Vietnamese law and marks a significant shift in Vietnam’s penal practice.