Inmates and prison staff deserve better than this

Death Penalty Inmates listen to speeches during the 15th World Day against Death Penalty at Kamiti Maximum Prison. [Boniface Okendo, Standard]

Auditor General's report for fiscal year 2021/2022 lays bare the deplorable living conditions in Kenyan prisons. The Auditor General attributes this poor state of affairs to inadequate budgetary allocations to run the correctional services.

A notable thing about Kenyan prisons is overcrowding. Late last year, Chief Registrar of the Judiciary Anne Amadi said there were 58,887 inmates in jails that were initially built to accommodate only 34,000 inmates. These large numbers put a strain on all aspects of prisons' management, which then demands that the facilities be decongested to relieve them of the strain.