Kenneth Ogosia
11 May 2008
Nairobi — The government has known about the dehumanising working and living conditions in Kenya's prisons for the past one year but did next to nothing to improve the situation and avert the recent strike by warders, we can reveal.
A confidential official report, seen by the Sunday Nation, describes to the fine detail how the working environment exposed prison warders to diseases and other deadly hazards daily - and even suggests how the problems should be solved.
More than 300 prison warders died between 2004 and April 2007 after contracting diseases within their working environment, described in the report as dehumanising.
Senior government officials
The report, which was discussed by senior government officials about one year before the recent prison warders' strike, also shows that the appalling conditions had cost the Prisons Service part of its workforce, with some opting to quit.
"The Kenya prisons staff die mainly due to poor work environment, regular contact with sick inmates in prisons and hospitals and 40 staff members quit the service every year due to the appalling conditions," the report says.
"The medical facilities for staff and inmates are old and dilapidated and they facilities are also poorly staffed with obsolete or no equipment. One of the major challenges is the containment of TB, HIV/Aids and other communicable diseases in prisons."
The Prisons Service plans to construct a referral facility for prisoners and staff called Prisons Command Hospital.
The Sunday Nation has learnt that the document was presented in April last year by the then Home Affairs Permanent Secretary Ambassador Nancy Kirui at a meeting chaired by the Head of Public Service and Secretary to the Cabinet Francis Muthaura and attended by other permanent secretaries at Harambee House, Nairobi.
"This presentation highlights key issues affecting the Prisons Service. To address these issues, support is needed in the areas of finance, human capital, infrastructure, health, security, trade and industry, agriculture, water and irrigation, housing, the criminal justice system, all of which have a bearing on the operations of the Prisons Service," the report says.
This is the report that former Vice-President Moody Awori recently said should be implemented by his successor, Mr Kalonzo Musyoka, instead of forming another committee to investigate prison conditions. Mr Awori turned down his appointment to the committee by Mr Musyoka, saying all the problems in Kenyan prisons are captured in the report he handed over to Mr Musyoka, who is also the Minister for Home Affairs.
A spokesman for the Vice-President, Mr Kaplich Barsito, said that Mr Musyoka had already seen the report Mr Awori was referring to.
"Mr Musyoka wants a more comprehensive document and he does not wish to tie the hands of the committee that he has appointed. The committee is expected to delve into all reforms, grievances by warders and corruption. The VP wants the issue dealt with so comprehensively that it will not be revisited again," Mr Barsito said.
A spokesman for the Vice President Mr Kaplich Barsito said that Mr Kalonzo had already seen the report Mr Awori was referring to.
"Mr Kalonzo wants a more comprehensive document and he does not wish to tie the hands of the committee that he has appointed. The committee is expected to delve into all reforms, grievances by warders and corruption. The VP wants the issue dealt with so comprehensively that it will not be revisited again," Mr Barsito said.
The report said the Prisons Service was also grappling with problem of terminally ill inmates mainly suffering from HIV related complications and cancer.
In 2006 alone, 182 inmates died of T.B., 105 of pneumonia, 99 of malaria, 50 died of diarrhoea, 44 suppressed immunity and 72 of other diseases, says the report.
Donkeys for transport
"On average the Prisons Service has been losing 46 inmates monthly and 11 inmates weekly because of congestion, in hygienic conditions and poor health care," the report says.
According to the report, Kenyan prisons are heavily congested with more than 40, 000 inmates instead of the maximum capacity of 16,000 that the penal facilities around the country are supposed to accommodate.
According to the report, the Prisons Service was a major casualty of the Anglo Leasing scandal; its modernisation of communication equipment project was one of those stopped in the wake of the scam.
The report further gives shocking details whereby prisons authorities have been forced to either use donkeys to transport inmates or have fellow inmates carry the sick to hospitals and other health centres.
The practice - a desperate measure to save lives - exposes warders to the risk losing their jobs when such prisoners escape, says the report.
It says that Kenyan prisons operate below the international standards in every aspect and particularly the ratio of 1:5 recommended between warders and inmates. In Kenya, the ratio is one warder to 16 prisoners.
The law governing local prisons says that all inmates are entitled to a prescribed dietary scale for different categories of inmates. However, the report says, this has not been achieved due to inadequate funding leading to malnutrition and escalation of preventable diseases such as T.B. and HIV/Aids.
In the financial year 2006/2007 the Prisons Service was allocated Sh900 million against an annual requirement of Sh2.2 billion, pegged on a prisoner population of 59,000 at the rate of Sh100 per prisoner per day.
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