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Kenya: Former Inmates Choose Prison Chapel to Hold Their Wedding

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4 years ago

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Nyeri — Top Kenya prison officials and prisons staff at the King’ong’o maximum prisons were on Tuesday treated to a rare spectacle when two former inmates chose the prison’s chapel to solemnize their marriage.

The lovebirds Virginia Kalondu, 24 and her groom Martin Mzera 28, travelled all the way from Nairobi to Nyeri County to tie the knot as a way of encouraging inmates and prison officials that ex-convicts can be reintegrated back into society and lead normal lives after serving their jail term.

“For seven years, the prison cells were my home. Never at one point did I ever imagine that anyone would be interested in being in a relationship with an ex-convict,” said Virginia.

“We chose to have our wedding here as a way of encouraging inmates that they can lead a normal life after confinement,” she added.

The white wedding was the climax of a second graduation ceremony for 378 inmates who graduated with a certificate course in Mindset Education and Theology from the International Youth Fellowship (IYF) Programme.

Both Virginia and Martin first met in 2016 during one of the worldwide youth camps organized by IYF and forged a friendship.

The couple said that they had participated in the IYF mindset education programme during their time in jail and decided to pursue the program after they had been released as volunteers. According to the couple, the IYF volunteer opportunities and mentorship camps created the best opportunity for them to court and share their past.

While Martin had been convicted with robbery charges and sentenced for a year at the King’orani Prison in Mombasa County, Virginia was first locked up at the Kirigiti Girls Rehabilitation in Kiambu for bang addiction. She would later serve another sentence at the Jamhuri short sentence prison for attempted murder.