Fighting to shed off bad image

By JOB WERU and WINSLEY MASESE

King’ong’o and Kodiaga prisons are struggling to shed the image of disease, torture and death that had come to be associated with the institutions.
Situated in Nyeri, King’ong’o is remembered for the bludgeoning to death by warders of six inmates one night in 2001.

However, its worst nightmare right now is congestion. Built for 600 inmates, it now has1,650, nearly three times the number it was meant to accommodate.
The officer in charge Mr Stephen Kabiru said a cordial working relationship between the courts and the facility assists in maintaining a relative population of inmates.

"We have judicial decongestion exercise, where the courts review jail terms issued against inmates who serve less than three years imprisonment," said Kabiru.
However, the prison has improved marginally – although complains now come from warders who say they live in deplorable conditions.
Despite the facility,which is the biggest in the province, having a population of 780 warders, most of the houses where the officers reside were put up in pre-independence era and are dilapidated.
In the last two decades,

Death trap

Kisumu’s Kodiaga Prison has cultivated a reputation as a death trap for inmates. It has had a series of disease outbreaks, especially diarrhoea, skin diseases and TB.
Although it now has a health facility, shortage of drugs and personnel is a common thing.
Though the prison has a public health officer, a nurse and a clinical officer, a source said inmates can still not get specialised treatment.
"The situation at times is dire, given the poor sanitation at the prison," the source said.
Accommodation is a nightmare for jailers, as the houses are in poor condition.
Houses are walled and roofed with iron sheets and during the day, it is extremely hot, making it unbearable to relax.
"Except the old houses where the senior officers live, the junior officers, especially recruits have to swallow their pride and contend with the shortage of houses, which is normal to us," said one of the officers.
The construction of about 20 modern units, which started three years ago, stalled thus piling pressure on the available accommodation.
The houses are 90 per cent complete and it is not known when the construction will resume.
Numerous attempts to get the officer in charge at the prison for a comment were futile as his phone went unanswered.