Prisons department to resume visitations amidst mental health concerns among inmates

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 11 – The country’s correctional facilities are expected to resume inmate visitation more than one year since a ban was instituted at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The move, officials at the correctional facilities said was necessitated by a need to combat the spread of the deadly virus which would have proved difficult to contain at the inception of the pandemic due to challenges of sanitation and social distancing requirements as advised by the Ministry of Health.

Since the pandemic struck the country, at least 14 inmates have lost their lives.

At the height of the pandemic, officials say, between four and five thousand inmates were put in quarantine facilities.

The road to re-opening prisons for visitations according to Ministry of Interior Chief Administrative Secretary Winnie Guchu has been prioritized as part of the measure to address cases of mental health concerns in correctional facilities.

“We are working very closely with the Ministry of Health, the prison health department have already worked on what we can adopt so that we can open up for visitation so that we do not introduce COVID-19 into the prison,” said CAS Guchu.

Deputy Commissioner of Prisons Florence Omondi said the move is timely and necessary since inmates have also endured mental health challenges as a result of the deprived visits.

“Mental health is very important and we have realized because of the lockdown and lack of visitation our inmates have been affected negatively. It is important they connect with their families and we welcome the move on mental health. Prisoners are people too and they experience the same challenges we do when we do not interact with our family members,” Florence Omondi, Deputy Commissioner General of Prisons said.

The correctional service has embarked on an exercise to vaccinate all its inmates and prisons staff in order to make this a reality.

Already, 15 thousand prions wardens have received the COVID-19 vaccine.

The ambitious programme targets at least 50,000 inmates and 48,000 prison staff.

“We are estimating we need 100 thousand vaccines,” said Guchu who further revealed that, “We hope to get it in batches. MoH will advise us on how we roll it out.”

The Ministry of Health has embarked on a four-month survey in all the prisons to establish the effects of the pandemic on inmates.

Deputy Secretary-General Kenya Red Cross Society Annette Msabeni said that they were working closely with prisons in reducing risks of infections in the penal institutions.

“There is a level of hesitance from across the country but we also know there is a level of excitement among others knowing it is through vaccination we will be contributing through prevention. Social mobilization is important so people can know what the vaccine is all about, who should take the vaccine, when, why. Once educated on them they can take the vaccine when its available.” Said Msabeni.

Alternatives to pre-trial detention and imprisonment is expected to be devised to decongest detention facilities as well as enhancing avenues for diversion of matters through alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and alternative justice system (AJS).