Mother's Anguish as Akasha Brothers Rot in a US Jail

Fatma Akasha, the widow of the slain suspected drug baron and tycoon Ibrahim Akasha has revealed how her life took a sudden twist after two of her sons were extradited to the United States to face charges related to drug trafficking.

A year after the two were flown to the US, Fatma says that relatives and close friends have kept away from them and the family is struggling to make ends meet.

“We are now on our own. All those who pretended to be friends of my sons are nowhere to be seen. We have no one to support or console us during these hard times,” she told Daily Nation.

As she spoke to Nation, the 62-year-old woman could not hold back her tears as she revealed she has been suffering from high blood pressure since the two were deported to the US last year.

Baktash Akasha and Ibrahim Akasha are being detained in New York as court proceeding on the drug trafficking charges facing them continue.

“We have been left with deep incurable wounds and gaps that no one can heal and fill. I am pained as a mother, not being able to see my two sons who are rotting in a foreign jail,” she tells the Nation during an interview.

The two, alongside a Pakistani national Ghulam Hussein and an Indian national Vijaygiri Goswami are facing charges of conspiring to sneak 98 kilos of heroin into the US from Kenya. They could be handed life sentences should they be found guilty.

“They are the only people who could unburden me of my sufferings,”She says of the two sons, who left behind 12 children – Baktash has eight and Ibrahim four.

“How are we supposed to look after all these children? It is a burden that my daughters and I carry. A man is the head of a family but for us we have been forced to play that role since there is no man amongst us,” the widow says.

Mrs Akasha says some of her grandchildren fight with their schoolmates who call them ‘names’.

“The whole thing is affecting all of us as a family. It has also involved the innocent children. Only God knows what we are going through,” she says as she weeps uncontrollably.

A relative said the family has faced roadblocks in attempts to visit Baktash and Ibrahim in the US prison.

“Last year we applied for a letter to go see them but we were frustrated by the long processes that we were taken through.

“It took me three months before I could be allowed by the relevant authorities. I later succeeded and saw them,” she says.

The family wants the Kenyan government to intervene and have the two tried in Kenya.

“I am appealing to President Uhuru Kenyatta to come to our help. Let him see the pain that I am going through as a Kenyan and assist me. My sons are Kenyans and if they have committed any offences let them be tried here,” says Mrs Akasha.

“I will not stop praying. My God will never let me down. I am longing for a day when I will see my sons at the doorstep of my house. My faith on this will never go in vain,” she adds.