Abduba Dida Freed from U.S. Prison, Shifts Focus to Charity Work in Minnesota
MINNESOTA, USA
Former Kenyan presidential hopeful Mohammed Abduba Dida has been released from a U.S. correctional facility after serving part of his sentence for stalking-related charges. The 50-year-old was granted parole on April 3, 2025, from the Big Muddy Correctional Centre in Illinois.
Dida was sentenced in 2022 to seven years behind bars for multiple charges, including stalking, transmitting threats, and violating a restraining order. According to official records, he will remain under parole supervision until his projected release date in April 2029.
Legal Challenges and Time Behind Bars
Dida’s incarceration began on November 18, 2022, following convictions for two separate offences. He received a two-year sentence for the first—transmitting threats and basic stalking—and a five-year term for aggravated stalking, which involved breaching a restraining order. Despite his legal troubles, Dida maintained throughout his detention that his rights were being infringed upon.
In 2024, he filed a case alleging that his access to educational and rehabilitative programs in prison was being unjustly restricted, claiming this denied him fundamental constitutional rights during his sentence.
Plans to Rebuild the Dida Foundation International
Now back at his residence in Minnesota, Dida is turning his attention to philanthropy. His wife, Amina Liban, revealed that he is planning to revive the Dida Foundation International, an initiative he registered in 2017 before his legal entanglements began.
“He’s currently searching for an office space to house the foundation,” she stated. The organization, while legally recognized in the U.S., has yet to be fully evaluated by oversight bodies like Charity Navigator due to a lack of operational data.
Charity Navigator confirmed the existence of the foundation but noted that it hasn’t yet developed a framework to assess its impact or effectiveness, particularly given its limited direct services and donor base.
Dida’s Return to Public Life?
Though once a vocal critic of Kenya’s political elite and a unique figure on the 2013 and 2017 presidential ballots, Dida has been largely absent from the Kenyan political scene in recent years. His recent release could signal a potential reentry into public life—this time, through humanitarian efforts rather than the ballot.
For now, all indications suggest that the former teacher and political outsider is focusing on rebuilding his image through charitable work, with his sights firmly set on community upliftment in the U.S. and potentially Kenya.
