Mohammed Abduba Dida’s ongoing conflict with his American ex-wife is the reason behind his current imprisonment in the United States, it has now emerged.
Dida, who vied for Kenya’s presidency in 2013 and 2017, was in 2021 convicted of stalking and threatening his estranged wife, Mama Leila, who lives in Illinois.
He is currently serving a seven-year sentence in a US prison.
According to his family, Dida moved to the US in January 2019 for further studies, met and married his now-estranged American wife, and lived happily until July 2021, when a dispute led her to seek a restraining order.
Court records show Dida breached the restraining order. This happened when he went to a mosque close to her residence, not realizing it was a restricted zone under US law.
His visit, which was meant for prayer, was considered a violation of the order, resulting in his arrest and subsequent imprisonment.
“He visited a nearby mosque to pray and unfortunately the mosque also happened to be around the area where he was not supposed to be because Mama Lila also frequently visited the mosque,” a family member said.
Dida’s family maintains that the violation was unintentional and is calling for government intervention and legal assistance. Currently held at the Big Muddy Correctional Center in Illinois, Dida had previously been detained at the South Western Correctional Center.
His family is seeking ways to visit him and find legal avenues to secure his release.
“We are praying for him, trying to find a way of visiting him and find another lawyer and be able to help him.”
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The former Lenana School teacher recently filed a complaint over the alleged violation of his constitutional rights, including the right to practice Islam and to observe the Islamic daily schedule of prayer.
“Plaintiff claims that now at Big Muddy he has been approved as a volunteer imam, but he has only been allowed one Friday prayer.
“He has otherwise been denied prayers before and after sunrise and sunset, and he has been denied three additional prayers,” reads a legal complaint filed in the US District Court, Southern District of Illinois.
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Dida also complained that he needed a full shower on Friday before prayer, but despite many meetings about this, he has been unable to arrange it.
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