Justice for rich and poor is served in separate dishes

By David Odongo

“If you are rich and privileged,  you are more likely to receive compassion from the courts than a poor man,” David Kipkorir, 43, starts off.

In his seven years stint in jail, he saw the sharp contrast in administration of justice between the rich and poor. The rich and famous got a slap on the wrist in terms of punishment for crimes committed while the poor were harshly punished.

One such wealthy man from an influential family was once sentenced to just eight months after shooting two unarmed men dead. Kipkorir got ten years for manslaughter, the same crime the rich man was sentenced for.

In January 2004, Kipkorir started serving his sentence at the Naivasha Maximum Security Prison. Prosecutors said Kipkorir, while drunk had without provocation set upon his cousin, savagely beating him to death with a piece of wood.

After his cousin died while undergoing treatment, witnesses told the police that Kipkorir had been drinking the whole morning, and differed with his cousin and wife, thereafter, attacking them. His cousin’s wife also testified against him.

Self-defence

In his defence, Kipkorir says his cousin had attacked him and he was just defending himself. Having no money to hire a lawyer, Kipkorir was assigned a Government lawyer.

He says the lawyer only met him outside the court on the day of judgement and told him to own up and admit he was guilty.

“The judge wholly relied on the prosecutor’s case. My side of the story wasn’t told.”

His stay in jail made him realise money enables affluent offenders to enjoy their stay behind bars.

“The rich man came to jail twice when I was at Naivasha and he was pampered like a king. He had his own cell and could host visitors. Yet the man had shot two unarmed people dead and he wasn’t in any physical danger like I was when I fought off my cousin. All he got was eight months, which he didn’t even complete.”

The stark contrast of a two-track system of justice begins with arrest. The poor are often arrested violently by the police, from their workplaces or homes, in full view of their family or colleagues. The privileged are always allowed to ‘turn themselves in’, usually accompanied by high-powered lawyers.

Following arrest, poor people with no money to pay bond are remanded, sometimes for years while their cases slowly wind through the court system while the rich pay and walk off fast.

The state then appoints overworked and underfunded government lawyers with huge caseloads to defend the poor.

He believes if he was moneyed, he could have been served a very short sentence or let free.

But his jailing was not in vain. He founded a school in prison – and became its first principal with the blessings of prison administration.

He enrolled fellow inmates as students and ‘recruited’ others to be teachers. This was possible because of the on going prisons reforms where inmates are allowed to go to school.

Kipkoriri started the school as he had experience as a teacher having taught for three years in a private school in the Rift Valley.

He taught inmates chemistry, mathematics and physics.

Before he was released, one of his students scored a mean grade B+. “That was one of my happiest moments and I thank God our paths had crossed since for the first time in my life, I had made a difference in someone’s life.” Four of his students are in university while two have graduated.

After his release, Kipkorir was received by his family and is now farming on land his father gave him. He is also dating and hopes to get married next year – and open another chapter in his life.