Reforms breathe life in once notorious, dreaded jail

British High Commissioner Christian Turner (right) with Kamiti Maximum Security Prison officer In-charge Henry Kisingu at the facility. It has been undergoing reforms and now has a tarmac road. [Photo: File/Standard]

Kamiti Maximum Prison was once the most notorious prison in Kenya. Now it boasts what is surely the country's most elaborate prison legal programme and perhaps the largest number of obese prisoners.

Three years ago, Joseph Nyanjui was a hawker in Limuru town, Kiambu County. He used the earnings to support a diploma course at a nondescript college in the town.