26 April 2008
Nairobi — Three prisoners died as a countrywide strike by warders to push for better pay got under way.
Thousands of other prisoners starved for hours after the warders refused to allow them to have their meals.
Officers at the affected prisons threatened to release hardcore criminals if their demands are not met by Monday. The three prisoners died at the Naivasha Maximum Prison after taking a brew suspected to be laced with the lethal methanol.
Five others, now partially blind, are admitted in critical condition at the Naivasha District Hospital. And the numbers could rise.
The tragedy struck as more than 500 warders in the main and annex prisons downed tools over risk allowances and poor working conditions.
Despite the Naivasha Prison being one of the most heavily guarded, it was not clear how the inmates smuggled the chemical into their cells.
Authorities said four of the five survivors are serving 20-years for rape while the other one is serving life sentence.
Dr Osborne Tembu, a medical officer at the hospital, said the five were being treated for toxicity.
"Our initial investigations show that the five drank a brew laced with methanol but their condition is now stable," Tembu said.
The irate warders from the main prison and the Annex prison closed the main prison road and at one time blocked police officers from taking remand suspects to courts.
Waving placards and twigs, the warders threatened to set free death row inmates by Monday, next week, if their grievances are not addressed.
The officers complained they were left out when other forces were awarded risk allowance. They said they are exposed to many dangers in the course of their duty.
They questioned the criteria used in awarding police officers risk allowance yet they (warders) also worked in poor and dangerous conditions.
The warders said that they would not take in any remand suspects from the police cells or escort them until their problems are solved.
Other grievances include poor working conditions, deplorable houses, uniform and the running of their Sacco.
The officers also sought audience with the Vice President Mr Kalonzo Musyoka, who is the minister for Home Affairs, under which the prisons department falls.
"Police have been given decent housing units yet we are forced to share houses due to congestion at the prison quarters," they lamented.
The prison warders want a risk allowance of Sh5,000 that has already been awarded to the both regular and Administration police.
They are also demanding to be given Sh10,000 that they were promised when they were called to help in manning the elections last year and in helping quell the post election violence.
Further, the warders want authorities to start supplying them with uniforms and build better houses for them and their families.
"We do not get uniforms from the Government as it is the case of military and police. We also demand that we be treated just like other security personnel," said one of the striking officers.
The strike which was on its third day in some institutions, paralysed operations in courts and other areas as the warders refused to report to work.
Operations in most courts were paralysed after most of the prisoners and remandees whose cases were scheduled for mention failed to turn up.
At the Kamiti Maximum Prison, warders refused to supervise the feeding of the prisoners and by 3pm, no food had been served.
The warders camped outside the main prison shouting and demanding that their case be considered urgently.
They at one point they chased away the Kiambu OCPD Mr Jay Munyambu after he arrived and tried to intervene.
Munyambu and the local DC had arrived at the institution when the warders confronted them and forced them back to their vehicles, asking them to leave.
The warders also shouted down the Ruiru Prisons College Commandant Mr John Odongo and the in-charge of the institution Mr Peter Njuguna as they tried to calm them. They said they wanted an audience with the Permanent Secretary.
"We do not want to hear promises from you. We want the PS or the Prime Minister to come here and assure us that we are going to get the money," they shouted.
The situation deteriorated after hardcore criminals started shouting and banging doors from inside, saying they were hungry.
Efforts by the senior officers to have the striking officers resume duties were futile.
Reports from Naivasha indicated that prison officers there were ready to free Mungiki leader Maina Njenga if their demands are not addressed.
A similar boycott of duty was witnessed at Nairobi Remand and Allocation Centre, Lang'ata, Nairobi West, Kodiaga, Kakamega, Kisii and Kitale.
Commissioner of Prisons Mr Gilbert Omondi told the Press in his office that the issue of allowances was being addressed by the relevant authorities.
"We are waiting for formal response and the Vice President is aware of this. We ask for patience," he said.
Omondi urged the officers to realise that they are members of a disciplined force who are not supposed to go on strike. He warned that anyone who will be found engaging in illegal activities will be sacked and prosecuted.
He noted that all provincial prisons officers were under instructions to ensure normal operations resume.
The prisons boss said the risk allowance deal was negotiated between the Office of the President and Directorate of Personnel Management.
Police were awarded the Sh5,000 allowances and will start to receive it at the end of the month backdated to January.
"Police and AP are under OP which negotiated the deal. We have to wait for our case to be looked into," he explained.
Commenting on the prisoners' deaths in Naivasha, Omondi said they are waiting for post-mortem reports to determine the cause of the deaths.
But prisoners at the institution claimed the men had died because of starvation.
The prisoners claimed they had not eaten any meal since Thursday when the strike began there.
Warders in the North Rift prison went on a go-slow protesting against the deplorable living conditions and discrimination against them.
The warders at the Eldoret Prison said they live in shanties. They demanded risk allowances awarded to the police and other Government security agents.
"We are living in grass thatched houses and condemned buildings which leak when it rains," said one of the warder interviewed by The Saturday Standard.
The warders who addressed a press conference outside the Eldoret Prison expressed disappointment with the manner in which the Commissioner of Prison was handling their grievances.
Story by Cyrus Ombati, Patrick Muriungi, Anyony Gitonga, Francis Ngige, Maseme Machuka, James Ratemo, Isaiah Lucheli, Willis Oketch, Beauttah Omanga, Roselyn Obala, Robert Wanyonyi and Mangoa Mosota.
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