Prison beauty queen is released at last

A beauty queen walked out of jail to freedom yesterday after completing an 18-month prison term.

Ms Milcah Wanja, the first inmate to hold the Miss Langata women's prison beauty title, said she was glad to be out and announced plans to use her time to advocate for the welfare of women inmates across the country. 

She also plans to raise funds to help women prisoners.

"I do not have regrets for having come to and passed through the Langata prison," said a tearful Ms Wanja.

"I am now in a better position to look for donors and well-wishers to help my friends whom I have left behind."

Sporting her crown and the sash proclaiming the title, she received shouts of joy from other inmates who were bidding her farewell.

Some of them and the warders were moved to tears as she hugged her parents and daughter who had come to receive her.

The farewell ceremony, the first of its kind in the prisons, was organised by Ms Wanini Kireri, the assistant commissioner in charge of the Langata women’s prison.

The fete turned emotional as Ms Wanja stood up to address fellow inmates she was leaving behind. "I will not forget you when I get out," she declared. 

And she broke down in tears as she repeatedly said that she would greatly miss the prison that "has transformed my life". Her father, Bishop Wambu Waweru, who preaches on the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation radio every Sunday morning, was present along with his wife Wanjiku to witness their daughter's release. 

Said the bishop: "This is a very happy day for our family; the prison has done more than we could ever have done to help our daughter."

On hand to receive Ms Wanja were representatives from Nairobi's Vera Beauty College which sponsored the beauty contest-cum-fashion show in July. 

The institution promised the winner a full scholarship upon release.

Ms Wanja was given a six-month hair design scholarship by Ms Christine Mwangi, who represented Ms Alice Kamunge, the director.

"We are happy to be part of Ms Wanja’s life and hope we will be instrumental in reforming her," Ms Mwangi said.

Ms Kireri said it was her dream to change the concept of prisons and the bad image of those in Kenya.

"More than anything else, we want the inmates to change and get reformed. There might be errors because we are all humans, but we are honestly doing the best we can," she said. 

She urged Kenyans to appreciate Vice-President Moody Awori's efforts in reforming the prisons.

Ms Wanja was jailed for being an accomplice in a theft. 

"I was moving with the wrong group and now I know better than before what it means to be disobedient and rebellious," she said.

Kenyans should appreciate the work that Vice-President Moody Awori has been doing in reforming the country’s prisons, she added.

She asked Wanja to take the Langata gospel with her so that others outside the prison walls might know something good can come out of a prison.

Milcah Wanja had been serving an 18 month sentence for being an accomplice in a theft case.

"I was moving with the wrong crowd and now I know better than before what it means to be disobedient and rebellious," she said.

Wanja handed over the Miss Langata crown to the first runner up Betty Akinyi. She asked Akinyi, who is serving a five year term for drug trafficking, to be the role model she had been to the other inmates. 

Wanja however said that she did not feel like she had wasted a year and a half of her life. "This was like college to me. I have learnt so much and I am a much better person now than I was when I first got here".

She however said that the most challenging bit of being the miss Langata was having to be a role model, someone that others could look up to. "That is something that I was not used to. It has however helped me to become more responsible and a better example".

Wanja starts college next week.