Agony for prisoners as court files goes missing

Chrispine Otieno, an inmate at Kisumu Maximum security prison airs his grievances before a team from Ombudsman's office who visited the facility on February 25, 2019. [Denish Ochieng/Standard]

Missing court files, some which have not been seen for over 10 years, have denied some inmates at Kodiaga Maximum Prison justice.

As a result, the inmates, most serving life sentences, have given up hope of ever securing their freedom through the Court of Appeal.

This came to light during a visit by senior judicial staff and officials from the Ombudsman office, to the prison on Monday afternoon.

The inmates narrated to the visitors the pain they have gone through in their desperate quest to find justice.

Some of them claimed only those who can afford to bribe court officials manage to trace their files.

Chrispine Otieno, who was jailed in 2003 for robbery with violence, said he was still waiting for his appeal to be heard, 17 years after he filed a notice of appeal.

“I was told that my file was missing,” said Otieno.

He believes his file has never been found because of his inability to bribe court officials.

Otieno is not alone. His plight mirrors that of Azir Johns, who was convicted by a Busia court in 2009 for robbery with violence.

Unknown fate

Johns claimed the person he was convicted with was released in 2016. “I sent an appeal to the appellate court in Kisumu but the fate of that appeal remains unknown because the file is allegedly missing,” he said.

The inmates also blamed the disappearance of files on breakdown in communication between the Judiciary, prisoners and their advocates. But a majority of them claimed corruption in the Judiciary was the number one reason.

They claimed some court clerks demanded bribes to locate files. “It is unfair that we are suffering inside these prison walls because of the incompetence of the Judiciary. It is unacceptable. Files cannot just get lost if someone does not tamper with them,” said Simon Gitui, another inmate.

At Kodiaga Women Prison, Lilian Anyango, who was convicted over a debt, also complained her file had gone missing. “I left my children alone and I am also sick. I have already cleared the debt I owed the woman who sued me,” she said.

Yesterday, Bruce Odeny, the chairperson of Law Society of Kenya Kisumu chapter, said they were addressing the issue of missing files in the court users committee.

The office of the Ombudsman also promised to address the issues raised by the inmates.

Mary Njoki, an administrative officer who led the team that visited Kodiaga, also promised that the complaints would be addressed.

“We will follow up on the cases and ensure that they are resolved,” she said.

Kisumu High Court Deputy Registrar Angeline Odawo said some of the files could only have been misplaced, but not lost.

“At times the process of retrieving the files from the courts where the cases were handled takes some time... that is one of the reasons for the delays, but we are working on them,” she said.

Last year, inmates at Kibos Prison also vented their frustrations over missing files and the huge hurdle in filing appeals.