Manyani prison warder arrested with bhang

By Renson Mnyamwezi

MANYANI, KENYA: A prison warder attached to GK Manyani Maximum Prison police believed to be a “notorious drug peddler” was arrested on Sunday with a consignment of bhang inside the institution.

The institution’s officials said that the officer was behind the cartel of drug peddlers in the penal institution selling the commodity to inmates in one of the recent wave of indiscipline by uniformed offers in the area.

“We recovered a consignment of cannabis sativa and several packets of cigarettes which he was secretly supplying to inmates. We believe this is a major breakthrough in this fight and the suspect will be arraigned in court,” said Mr. Nicholas Mwasai, the officer in-charge of the facility.

Mr. Nicholas confirmed the incident saying that the officer has been handed over to Voi Police station for further investigation. He however did not want to divulge more information on the amount to the cache but said “the arrest was a major breakthrough against drug peddling in the institution.”

The authorities said the suspect had been selling drugs to prisoners for quite some time and his arrest is a major breakthrough in the fight against underhand dealings at the facility.

He said that the officer will be arraigned in court any day this week once the investigation was complete.

This is not the first time a wader at this penal institution situated along the Nairobi-Mombasa highway is arrested. Last year, another warder was arrested with 145 kilogram of drugs at the facility.

Manyani maximum prison is one of the country’s largest correctional facilities and currently it is holding over 2,000 prisoners.