NAKURU,Kenya, Apr, 22 – In the wake of the rising cases of COVID-19 infections in the country, the department of correctional facilities is now taking stringent measures to combat the spread of the deadly virus.
As part of the measures, 14,000 inmates across the country have been released in a move meant to decongest penal institutions.
During a visit of the Naivasha G.K Prison, Correctional Services, Principal Secretary Zeinab Hussein said that the decision was a culmination of continuous engagements with the Ministry of Health and Judiciary.
The countries inmate population stood at 48,000 according to prison statistics in February 2021 despite a holding capacity of 30 thousand.
“The decongestion programme is in line with Ministry of Health directives, over 14,000 inmates have been released since the pandemic was first reported in the country,” PS Hussein said.
A robust training programme continues to be implemented in the penal institutions after seven staff and and inmates died since the pandemic struck the country in March, 2020.
“We have a robust testing programme, when inmates are brought from courts or prison cells we quarantine them for 14 days, when they are ready and cleared, they are then released to the prison population” PS Zainab said.
At least 8,000 prison officials have been vaccinated with the exercise also targeting their family members who have been deemed eligible.
At the onset of the pandemic, the Kenya prisons service announced that petty offenders would be released from the various correctional and remand facilities in order to decongest prisons.
Health officials advocated for the decongestion of prisons which was identified as one of the hotspots for the spread of the virus due to the difficulty in implementing regulations such as social distancing among others.
On an advisory from the National Council on Administrative of Justice (NCAJ), thousands of inmates were released across the country.
Recently, acting Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu said the judiciary is mitigating the impacts of the virus, while ensuring the greatest extent possible minimum disruption of access to justice.
“Courts are doing their part to mitigate COVID-19 by increasing use of alternatives to pre-trial detention and imprisonment to support decongestion of detention facilities as well as enhancing avenues for diversion of matters through alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and alternative justice system (AJS),” she said.
Commissioner General of Prisons Wycliffe Ogalo said that containment measures have been put in place across all penal institutions with staff also being equipped with PPEs and other necessary equipment as part of Ministry of Health guidelines.
A judge recently appointed to head the community service orders will resume the process of decongestion in prisons in June.
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