He just wanted to visit his mother in Uganda… but that journey stole 8 years of his life.
Meet Charles Ouma from Busia. A young man chasing a better life, Charles moved to Nairobi to work and support his family. But one small decision would send him down a path he never saw coming.
One day, he picked up a lost ID card. His friend warned him, “Don’t keep it, it could land you in serious trouble!” But Charles didn’t listen. He slipped it into his pocket — a move that would haunt him for years.
Months later, Charles decided to travel to Uganda to see his mother. At the border, officials asked for a passport, which he didn’t have. They searched him and discovered two ID cards — his own, and the one he had picked up.
“That was the beginning of my nightmare,” Charles says.
In a shocking twist, he was accused of attempting to cross the border illegally and possessing another person’s ID.
The next day in court, Charles admitted to the charges, believing it was just a small issue that would quickly be resolved. Instead, the judge dropped a bombshell sentence: 8 YEARS in prison!
💔 With bail set at a staggering KSh 800,000, Charles couldn’t buy his freedom. His appeal was later dismissed, forcing him to serve nearly a decade behind bars for a mistake he never thought was serious.
“At first, I felt like my life was over,” Charles recalls. “But with time, I accepted my fate and tried to survive.”
Today, Charles is finally free — but his story is a chilling reminder of how one bad decision can destroy everything.






