Upcoming Kenyan Singer Who Was Trolled Online Says She was Deported from the US After Serving 5-Year Prison Term

Upcoming Kenyan Singer Who Was Trolled Online Says She was Deported from the US After Serving 5-Year Prison Term

An upcoming Kenyan artist whose song recently went viral on social media has narrated how she was deported from the US after serving a five-year jail sentence.

In an interview with Daily Nation, Mercy Atis said she is trying to get back on her feet after she returned to the country following a painful experience abroad.

She recently faced harsh criticism and mockery from online users after her song (https://youtu.be/RIN2Yd6dICU) dubbed ‘I Don Wanna Know’ went viral. 

Mercy, who hails from Kisumu, moved to the US in 2005 to study courtesy of a sponsorship by a local church. She enrolled in a nursing course and was required to market Christian books of the church.

She completed her course and started practicing but things took a different turn after she was arrested and charged with arson. She was convicted and handed a five-year prison sentence.

“In 2009, I was arrested for arson and jailed for five years. What do you do when you are arrested in a foreign country? No family visitations and you don’t know anybody? You start looking for solace. I turned to music,” she said.

After serving her jail term, she was incarcerated in an immigration jail for nine months and deported to Kenya in 2014.

“I returned aboard a military plane from California, the USA to Kenya dressed in a hospital gown. I was accompanied by eight people including a doctor and a therapist.”

“There were no signs that coming back, a deportee, will make my life better as I had no money or assets to my name. However, on my way home, I have one resolve— to make it as a musician,” Mercy added.

Upon her arrival, members of her family were not welcoming, forcing her to live with a friend and do menial jobs and hawking in Kisumu to make ends meet.

She later met an old friend who offered to help her record her songs at an affordable rate but things did not work, forcing her to relocate to Malindi.

Mercy hoped her new song ‘I Don’t Wanna’ Know’ would be a hit but it turned out to be a nightmare for her due to hostile response from Kenyans online.

“When I shared my latest song titled “I don’t wanna know” on Facebook and YouTube through my stage name Mercy Atis, I didn’t expect to go viral…As an upcoming artist, this should have made me happy.”

“However, the first two nights were tough. I couldn’t sleep as I wondered why people were being so mean to me,” she noted.

But despite the backlash, Mercy says the suffering she went through in a foreign country helped her grow a thick skin.

“The five years I was jailed taught me to be brave and persevere. We were encouraged to start a new life for ourselves. What I wasn’t prepared for, is that sometimes, the same people calling for your change will be the same one mocking the process.” she said.

The song may have flopped but it helped her reconnect with a Kenyan friend who lives in California after losing touch for eight years.

Comments

Mkenya halisi (not verified)     Wed, 10/28/2020 @ 03:57am

May it b a lesson that huko unaitanga kwenyu sio kwenyu.Make use of that chance u have in majuu to b smart.Never ever ever forget home.Buy a plot build a house wacha ikaange hapo u will never know.U may never b deported but yr wife or hasi can frustrate u big time nakama uko nakakitu utaondokea shetani mwenyewe.Buy cheap land which is everywhere Hata kama iko ndani ndani kabisa??Last year my cousin was deported after 26 years in uk.Jamaa alirudi bila nothing kizunguu mingi tu but he cannot even afford sabuni ya kuoga.Hata squatting to shot nishida??

Ex diasporan (not verified)     Wed, 10/28/2020 @ 08:26am

You don't drive a car while using the side mirrors. You look straight ahead. Life is great ahead if you're determined and focused

Morris Menye (not verified)     Wed, 10/28/2020 @ 08:37am

Nyako was obeying her tribal god's(Raila) orders to torch any property belonging to his opponets.But she didn't know that impunity or licence to destroy was confined to Kenyan territory only.

idavethi (not verified)     Wed, 10/28/2020 @ 10:20am

Welcome home, Nyako. And pole for what you went through. Committing a crime in the US, of any form and shape, knowingly or unknowingly, is always a second away, foremost, on your finger-tips. A person I know went through the same process, from immigration detention to the airport with all his earthly possessions hurriedly haphazardly rolled in a Walmart paper bag. Many years later, oooo boy, fill up the missing links.The rest So I can't just start to speculate of what might have happened. But my brother Mkenya Halisi might be crude or cruel or might be brunt when passing a simple message ya "KUJIPANGA." Lakini wacha niiweke tahadhari hii tena wazi wazi mtana mtana.
Kwamba:
1. Wale wote uliokuwa unatumia kakitu na ile namba, utakaporudi au rudishwa, ukiwa umeketi au umelala, bila chochote, la haula hutaamini yatakayo kupata. WATARUKA WEWE! Nduguyo, dadako, shangazio, mjombako, shemejio, n.k, waliokuwa wakikupigia nusra wakusalimu wakiwa na nia ya kukuomba hiki na kile, watakutazama kana kwamba umeanguka kutoka mbinguni hoflo goglo!
2. Utakapotazama maisha yao utashikwa na butwaa utakapo gundua kwamba madabo madabo zako ulizojinyima uwape walizitumia kuishi maisha ya kifahari, na itakuchukua muda miaka kadri ya mitatu hivi, kununua vitu amabvyo wanavyo kama vile, viti vya fono, runinga ya nchi 55, ng'ombe za gredi, nyumba ya maajabu, kuku wa mayai, duka kubwa na vidubwasha vinginevyo.
3. Akiba haiozi. Hata kama hutarajii kurudi hivi karibuni, au kamwe hautarudi, tafuta mtu unayeweza kuamini, angalao akukununulie chochote, kikae hapo ya kesho huyajui. Sisi hujipangia ya kesho lakini anafahamu kitakachotokea hatimaye ni Mwenyezi Mungu.
4. Wakenya ni wanyama, na utashangaa na kushikwa na vishindo vya roho watakapo kukwepa pale watakapogundua umerudi mkono mtupu.
5. Sitaki kuonekana kana kwamba natoa vitisho lakini ukweli ni kwamba, unapochapa chapa kivua eti watu wetu wapo au jamaa zangu wapo, siku hio utagundua kwamba marafiki zako wa zamani mlio somo au kufanya kazi nao, wao ndio watakunyoroshea mkono wa buriani.
Nacho kijua tangu niliporudi hapa takriban miaka mitano iliopita ni kwamba kati ya Wakenya 10, utakuwa na bahati kubwa utakapompata mmoja mzuri.
Mwisho, its up to you. You got a life to live. But make sure either way, for better or for for worse, in Kenya or US, have something tangible that could act as shock-absorbers when the going get tough. Its tough surviving abroad but its disgusting making a living in Kenya in a country you used to call home. Mungu amrehemu nyote mnapo yatafakari hayo.

Maxwell (not verified)     Wed, 10/28/2020 @ 01:48pm

Good luck in whatever you do. Everyone deserves a second chance. Don't look back. Work hard in whatever you do. God bless you.

Shaka (not verified)     Wed, 10/28/2020 @ 03:08pm

Alot of people r gonna be hia trying to encourage u n give u hope, not me as i will keep it real with u. U went to Cali thru a church meaning at one time u were walking hand in hand with the Lord, now u r shaking ur ass holding trees saying i don't wanna know.Sister i do wanna know what the fuck is goin on in that nugget of yours. U went to Cali to do nursing, completed the course n were working before maybe drowing a couple of Old English bottles that brought the Devil in ur corner n ended up in Prison. Got sent back to Kenya, sad ur family was not in ur corner but reading from ur story shows u r not a ngombe so am sure u can use ur nursing experience to earn money as not all of us were blessed with singing talent n since u discovered that in Prison, somebody lied to u .Take ur ass back to Church n maybe someone might hear ur cry n offer a helping hand. Yes u should know ur song sucks, ur voice can only be appreciated by an Ex_terminator trying to get rid of rats, feel bad for the trees that were forced in ur video but sister unless ur trying to be a comedian, music u should leave for the shower.

Kora kanini (not verified)     Wed, 10/28/2020 @ 09:30pm

DON'T JUDGE AND YOU SHALL NOT BE JUDGED.
I won't judge.
Keep your head up. Do your best and leave everything else to GOD.
When driving you don't focus on the side mirrors, your focus is always on the windshield, you glance once in a while to check where you're coming from, meaning what's important is the journey ahead.
GOODLUCK SISTER.

Ex diasporan (not verified)     Wed, 10/28/2020 @ 11:52pm

Come on, sister, ignore Shaka. Continue shaking ass, since, from the photo, it seems you got a good ass

Shaka (not verified)     Thu, 10/29/2020 @ 04:20pm

Ex Diasporan u say ignore Shaka, its people like u that gives false hope to people instead of blessing them with the truth. The video was not bout showing her tree booty shaking, but was bout her music. If u my good man watched the video n enjoyed it i do not think u were high on weed or alcohol but mostly on glue. She clearly says she does not wanna know, cause she knows she sounds like a goat with a knife on its throat. Keep it real or join her fan club, buy yourself an Old English bottle of beer n go set something on fire. Fuck off.

Shaka (not verified)     Thu, 10/29/2020 @ 04:24pm

Ex Diasporan u say ignore Shaka, its people like u that gives false hope to people instead of blessing them with the truth. The video was not bout showing her tree booty shaking, but was bout her music. If u my good man watched the video n enjoyed it i do not think u were high on weed or alcohol but mostly on glue. She clearly says she does not wanna know, cause she knows she sounds like a goat with a knife on its throat. Keep it real or join her fan club, buy yourself an Old English bottle of beer n go set something on fire. Fuck off.

mkenya mzalendo (not verified)     Sun, 11/01/2020 @ 04:04am

wow sad story dada yangu..sisi tuko hapa uzunguni FL USA and wale wanao jua venye mambo inaweza kwenda mrama know how this can unfold my advise to kenya diasporans in the USA kwa wanaume wenzangu vuta bangi ya kutosha and cut down on liquor wewe weka break ya mambo ya kuchapa kofi mabibi and for my sisters stop getting into toxic relationships unaweza nyongwa na wazimu or worse you can do something stupid like what she did and go to jail and then krome and lastly invest..invest..invest..invest back home buy plots for 2k.3k.4k or 5k jenja bed sitters..build ten then take abank loan against the title deed and use it to build ten more..keep doing it till you can generate 3k amonth then panda ndege one way ticket

Liroti (not verified)     Tue, 11/17/2020 @ 06:22pm

You need a choir master to give you thorough training and guidance in singing! Wow, where is Simon of you got talent?? He would have told you the real truth of your new found talent in singing!! Hehehehe!!

How do I politely say this about your song? Well, the song and the singer literally sucks! Look at how you are dressed! Holy cow! I think you should look for a job in nursing to start your professional life all over!!!

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