“I lost Ksh.200,000 Chamaa Money on Aviator and now am in jail” Dorothy Katulu
A young woman, Dorothy Katulu who until recently was entrusted with the money of Chamaa as the treasurer is serving a three year jail sentence at the Lang’ata Women’s Prison. Katulu has now served for one month and says that she is expecting to be released in the year 2026.
The young woman was arrested and subsequently jailed for gambling away Ksh. 200,000 – money she had been entrusted to keep as an informal Sacco treasurer(Chama).
Dorothy Katulu, 27, is seven months pregnant and has been at the Lang’ata Women’s prison for the last one month. She was jailed for three years on January 17, 2025.
Katulu says that before she was arrested and sent to jail, she had been working at a printing shop where she had been working for three years.
“Life here is tough. The food here is horrible and I’m currently pregnant and cannot afford proper meals. Life is tough. My baby’s father is no longer talking to me. I’ll have to give birth while here, I don’t have anything I can do…”
She added, “I used to have saved a little money for myself but now I’ve used up all the money. I have nothing left and yet my baby is coming…”
Katulu narrated that she used to work at a printing firm when the tenants in the apartment picked her as the treasurer in their local ‘Chama’.
The printing business was in a building she says was known as Ndaragwa. She was elected the treasurer at one point when she, together with other workers and business people in this building, formed a chama
“I served well in the first two years and distributed money according to what we had agreed,” she says.
“On the first year, I gave them their money without any problems. I did so too during the second year. And the third too,” she narrated.
Things changed in December 2024 when she was supposed to give out contributions to members. “We were supposed to share our contributions in December 2024. Three members went to the bank and withdrew Sh2.1 million, which they brought to me for distribution,” she says.
“My friend told me that there’s a game played on mobile phone known as Aviator which was easy to play and win,” she says. The friend claimed that they had played and won. They alleged to have placed a bet of Sh50,000 and won Sh100,000. “I figured that since I had Sh200,000 in my phone, I could try my luck,” says Katulu.
She started placing bets and losing. “I would place bets in small installments and I kept losing until all the money was gone,” she says.
“I am deeply sorry to all the four people whose money I wasted on gambling. I’m extremely regretful for my actions. I’m depressed and I cry alot. I would never repeat the mistake. I’m pregnant, I’m overthinking and this could also hurt my baby…”
“I used to earn Ksh. 700 per day at the printing firm. I don’t have any savings left. I used to send my family members money. Now I have nothing left….” she regretted.
Many who watched the show called out Katulu for her ignorance and apparent recklessness in handling money, while at the same time expressing their sympathy especially due to her pregnancy status and apparent remorsefulness.
“It’s very wrong to play with people’s money, especially in these tough times. I would have been very mad at her too. Money is a dangerous thing to play with. However, I feel for her and her situation. She’s pregnant and she appears sorry. Something should be done,” Rael Wanjau wrote.
