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Kenya: Top Prisons Bosses in Court Over Strike
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The Nation (Nairobi)
29 April 2008
Posted to the web 29 April 2008
Jeff Otieno And Jillo Kadida
Nairobi
Nine senior Prisons officers were on Monday charged with inciting their juniors to boycott work even as the Government yielded to most of the demands of striking warders.
Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka announced new measures to improve working conditions for the warders at his Jogoo House office just as the nine Prison commanders were being charged with "incitement to disobedience of lawful command".
The warders, who started their protest on Thursday last week, resumed work and business in most prisons across the country returned to normal in the afternoon following the VP's announcement.
"We are back to our work and we are waiting to hand over to our colleagues on late night duty," a warder at Kamiti prison told the Nation by telephone. The story was the same in most other prisons.
They will now receive Sh5,000 risk allowance a month and those who took part in quelling the post-election violence will be paid Sh10,000 stipend, Mr Musyoka announced.
Their living conditions will be improved by fast-tracking construction of houses and warders will be supplied with new uniform. These had formed the core grievances of warders whose work boycott and protests had severely affected business in prisons and courts across the country.
Nonetheless, Mr Musyoka warned that at the end of it all some officers will have to be disciplined for what was seen by many as a mutiny by members of a disciplined force.
At the law courts, a stone's throw away from the VP's office, the nine commanders who head various prisons across the country were in a surprise move arraigned before Chief Magistrate Gilbert Mutembei.
They were charged with inciting their juniors and ordering them not to report on duty.
The officers, among them the Commandant of the Prisons Staff Training College in Ruiru, Mr John Isaac Odongo, were brought to the High Court at 12.20 pm escorted by plain clothes CID officers.
Others charged
Others charged were the Provincial Prisons Commandant Central province, Mr Ambrose Ngare, Mr Bernard Ngonini who heads Nakuru Prison, Mr Peter Njuguna, the Officer in Charge of Kamiti Maximum Prison, Mr David Mikiugu, in charge of Meru Prison and Mr David Getui Bwana, a senior assistant commissioner of prisons.
Others were Mr Andrew Ojal, Senior Superintendent of Prisons in charge of Eldoret, Mr Raphael Munyoli who is in charge of Nyeri's King'ong'o Prison and Mrs Martha Kavula Sami, the Officer in Charge of Embu Prison.
They all denied the charge and were freed on Sh20,000 cash bail.
Meanwhile, earlier on Monday, the strike which entered its fifth day had continued in major prisons affecting escort of remand prisoners in Nairobi, Eldoret and Kisumu where police were called in to do the job.
However, no incidents were reported in Mombasa and other prisons elsewhere in the country.
In Nairobi there was a tense moment as gun shots rent the air at Kamiti when prisoners on death row attempted to escape while reports from Kibos, Kisumu, said one prisoner died on Sunday night apparently after warders failed to take him to hospital.
About 300 Kamiti inmates, who had been gathering outside their cells after they broke the doors, were trying to scale the prison walls when the warders spotted them. The incident happened minutes after Prisons Commissioner Gilbert Omondi left the institution after addressing senior officers.
He had to rush back to the prison to deal with the emergency, but no prisoner escaped.
At the High Court, Mr Odongo and his colleagues were brought in two vehicles and upon arrival were escorted to the basement cells.
The officers spent half an hour in the cells consulting with their lawyers.
At 12.40 pm, before the officers were arraigned in court, a contingent of more than 20 prison warders and police officers jammed court Number One where the nine were charged.
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The commotion caught the magistrate's attention prompting him to ask what was going on.
The magistrate, who was in the middle of hearing a different case, was forced to adjourn the court session for 15 minutes.
On resumption he went straight to hear the commanders' case in which the nine officers were charged with inciting warders at their respective stations by ordering them not to report on duty.
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stop wasting tax payers money by charging the bosses with incitement. May be abuse of office would have been better in that they did not advice, and be proactive in their areas. The money is budgeted for every financial year for houses. But what do they do - nothing. They have free labour and big farms but the bosses cannt think. I think this bussiness of promotion through the ranks do not attract the best brains. Reforms are a must. lets have top management of the forces open to other people other than soldiers. If they can not look after... [Read Full Text]
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