Mohammed Abduba Dida, the fiery former Kenyan presidential contender and one-time high-school teacher, is free on parole after spending just over three years at Illinois’ Big Muddy Correctional Centre.
He left the medium-security prison on 3 March 2025, two years and four months into a seven-year term handed down for stalking, transmitting threats and breaching a restraining order.
The remainder of his sentence will be served in the community under supervision until 3 April 2029.
Dida’s release ends a legal saga that began in November 2022 when an Illinois court convicted him on two counts, one carrying a two-year term and the other five years, for repeatedly contacting a woman despite a court order.
Illinois law treats such violations as “aggravated stalking,” a felony that can attract lengthy custodial sentences.
Now aged 50, the outspoken 2013 and 2017 presidential hopeful is back in his Minnesota home, sketching plans to revive a modest charity he registered shortly before his arrest. “He is living in his house in Minnesota. He had started the Dida Foundation International and had completed its registration just before he was arrested. He is currently looking for an office to rent in Minnesota,” his wife Amina Liban told Daily Nation.
The non-profit is already listed on Charity Navigator, the US watchdog that vets philanthropic entities. But the platform says it lacks enough data to rate the foundation’s impact, noting that its programmes are either nascent or not yet heavy on public donations.
Dida has not commented publicly since walking free, yet allies say he wants to channel his trademark bluntness into social work. Back home, the news has rekindled debate over Kenya’s colourful fringe politicians—and reminded supporters that a man once best known for quipping “Don’t try me, I’m a teacher” is again a free man, albeit under America’s watchful eye.
