Mick, 62 and Sue, 63 were happily married and lived in a town called Diana in Kenya. Originally from England, the couple moved to Kenya and were considered local heroes - they were very generous and giving to all of their new neighbors in Kenya. In fact, they even paid thousands of their own dollars to pay for childrens' school fees and medicine for friends. Now, however, Mick and Sue are in jail for three years in England. The reason is that uncovered in their Kenyan farmhouse was a massive marijuana grow operation, producing marijuana and essentially the money that Mick and Sue would use to give as aid. The article explores many local Kenyans who treated Mick and Sue like family - in fact one man was so appreciative of the financial support from Mick that he named his son after him. However, many of those same people are very sad now that the financial aid will come to an end. Mick and Sue's peaceful marijuana growhouse has landed them in jail and away from their new friends in Kenya. It should be noted that villagers were adamant that they never once saw Mick an Sue smoking the weed they grew.
I thought this was interesting because even though the couple committed illegal crimes, they used the money to help many of the local citizens receive expensive medication and to send many local children to school. However, once the growhouse was found, these do-gooders were sent directly back to England to jail. While I am not saying I don't agree with the punishment, part of me is very sad that Mick and Sue got caught. To me, it seems that they were doing more good than bad, which can be seen by the love of their fellow Kenyan villagers. Yet, it will be at least three long years before Mick and Sue can return to Kenya, or even leave jail. There is only one thing I know for sure - Mick, Sue, and all of the villagers they helped are now worse off since this undercover marijuana growhouse has been discovered.
Link to original article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/kenya/9621428/Kenyan-villagers-shock-at-benefactors-cannabis-fortune.html
Interesting post. I find it ironic that the criminalization for marijuana is more important than the health of Kenyans. The money was being used for aid to help the destitution, not for yachts and lavish things like most people who sell marijuana and/or other drugs. I wonder how much better off the very poor countries in Africa would be if marijuana was not only legalized but allowed to produce to the economy, provide foreign aid etc.
ReplyDeleteI agree, its interesting to look at domestic issues here (like the legalization of marijuana, and how to boost our economy( in the USA and see how they relate to places in sub-Saharan Africa. I also think this article will gain significance when we look at the failure of NGO's. This couple was helping the local community in an area where many7 NGO's cannot - did Mick and Sue's collective good outweigh their crimes?
ReplyDeleteBrian-
ReplyDeleteIts an interesting conundrum- the good outweighing the bad. I am interested and its not entirely clear from your post- what were they doing with the marijuana? Cause, if it was being sold to a criminal group, then the bad would probably outweigh the good. Also, why did they participate in such an operation? I know it was for aid, but why commit an illegal operation to raise money for aid?
Yes, I was thinking that same thing. Even though they were helping out the community, which is of course excellent, I wonder where this product was being sold. If none of the villagers said they knew about it, you have to think that it was being sold to Kenyan gangs or some other corrupt group. This means that group was making money and depending on who they are, possibly using those funds to hurt others, aid terrorism, or many other really bad activities. I wonder why the family chose Kenya for their grow op?
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