Taskforce recommends inmates who have reformed earn early freedom

Inmates work at Shimo La Tewa [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

A taskforce formed to review criminal laws recommended that convicts be released from prison early if they are deemed to have reformed.

Following the Francis Muruatetu judgement by the Supreme Court, the team formed on May 26, 2017, and chaired by Secretary of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Maryann Njau, was tasked with looking into the entire penal law, with its report forming the basis of how crime would be punished. Yesterday, Chief Justice Martha Koome noted that the delay in handing back the report contributed to a confusion, with lower courts adopting their own interpretation on how to deal with convicts jailed over capital and sex offences.