By ALI ABDI
Isiolo/Marsabit counties
Prisons in Isiolo and Marsabit are overcrowded with Ethiopian inmates, mainly victims of human smuggling.
The number of foreigners sentenced to serve jail terms in Isiolo, Marsabit and Moyale prisons in the last three months far outnumber Kenyans convicted in two years.
On Wednesday, Officer Commanding Isiolo Prison Ibrahim Hassan made an urgent appeal to his seniors to redistribute prisoners to decongest the facility.
Hassan said Isiolo Prison, which has a capacity of 200 inmates now has 362. Of these, 190 are Ethiopians. "They have overstretched our capacity, forcing inmates to sleep on the floor without blankets and mattresses," said the officer.
Hassan said the congestion could lead to diseases. He proposed some inmates be taken the neighboring Meru, Embu and Nyeri prisons.
Awaiting reply
"I have written to my provincial commander and I am waiting for communication on how best to address this problem," said Hassan.
Mixing hardcore remandees with petty offenders, he added, could compromise security at the facility.
Sources at Moyale and Marsabit prisons say the facilities are also overcrowded with Ethiopians.
At the same time, the Ethiopians spoke of how they had sold their wealth to get to South Africa.
Sixty-seven of those sentenced to serve six months in jail by an Isiolo court on Tuesday said they were lured into Kenya by smugglers. They had been promised jobs in South Africa.
Speaking in Amharic through an interpreter, Estepheno Haile from Hawasa area in Ethiopia, said he had sold his cows and plot to raise 35,000 birr (Sh350,000) to cover cost of transportation to South Africa. He allegedly paid the cash to cartels dealing in human smuggling.
The inmates said the cartels operate in Ethiopia and Kenyan towns of Moyale, Isiolo and Nairobi.
They said senior officers in the former regime of deposed dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam who are in exile in South Africa had promised to help them get lucrative jobs there.
Most of the inmates are young, aged between 18 and 25, who were recruited by middlemen working in cahoots with prominent personalities in Nairobi and South Africa. Meanwhile, 67 Ethiopians appeared before an Isiolo court accused of being in the country unlawfully.
The accused, who appeared before Principal Magistrate Cosmas Maundu, pleaded guilty.
Maundu sentenced each to serve three months in prison or pay fine of Sh5,000. All of them could not immediately raise the amount and were taken to Isiolo Prison.
The prosecution said the Ethiopians were arrested last Saturday night within Ngaremara area in the outskirts of Isiolo while on transit to Nairobi for an onward trip to South Africa.
