Kenyans are locked in serious debates wondering whether the government should step in and assist five Kenyans who have been sentenced to death in China after they were found guilty of drug trafficking.

Six others have been condemned to life imprisonment in Chinese jails for drug peddling, many suggestions have been made as the country’s foreign affairs minister bows to pressure from Members of Parliament to dialogue with China over the matter. I would not be surprised if China failed to negotiate with Kenya since it has its own rule of law and anyone who breaches the law should be ready to face the consequences.

This is not the first time that Kenyans are caught on the wrong side of the law outside Kenya over drugs, so the government has no reason of rescuing criminals who are out to taint the country’s image. Always before traveling these people are warned and made aware of the penalties that come with drug trafficking and these were not an exception, so they should be left to deal with it.

Even though some of them were innocently dragged into the business, I am of the opinion they should be left to pay for their sins, after all if China ever traded the convicts, they will also serve life imprisonment here and I think its even worse here.

Twenty others, majority of them young women, are serving a cumulative jail term of 150 years. Some of them may not even have known that they were carrying drugs.

These are among more than 200 Kenyans currently being held in various jails in China, India, Pakistan, UK and other Asian countries over drug-related offence.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed the number but says the figure could be higher as more Kenyans had been arrested last month on drug-related offences and their particulars remained unclear.

Many other Kenyans are serving sentences in jails around the world for drug-related offences, but the Government is unaware because they used fake documents, or were not registered with Kenyan missions abroad. A number of them have died in foreign jails.