Condemned inmates turn prisons into death traps

An explosion in the number of prisoners on death row over the past decade could be a major contributing factor to the rise of unrest in the country’s overcrowded and overstretched correctional facilities.

Some of the more than 4,000 prisoners are said to be the prime movers behind the rioting that has rocked the country’s main high security prisons — Kamiti, Naivasha and King’ong’o.

Data obtained by the Sunday Nation indicates that whereas the country had fewer than 1,000 prisoners condemned to death in 2001, by the end of last year the number had risen to 4,420. The figure could hit the 5,000 mark by the end of this year.

The situation is so critical that the ministry of Home Affairs, which is in charge of prisons, has written to the Attorney- General asking him to open debate on the death penalty.

Vice-President and minister for Home Affairs Kalonzo Musyoka said on Friday that the issue was being addressed in conjunction with the AG and the Office of the President.

Mr Musyoka said the government was reviewing the death penalty as provided for in the Constitution with a view to addressing the plight of the condemned prisoners. He said this may mean considering whether to abolish the death penalty ahead of the review of the Constitution.

“Some African countries like Rwanda have already abolished the death penalty; we may go in that direction if there is consensus,” he said. No condemned prisoner has been executed in Kenya since 1984.

Far-reaching reforms

Dr Ludeki Chweya, the permanent secretary in the Office of the Vice-President and Ministry of Home Affairs, said the ministry had launched an integrated correctional service improvement programme, and its implementation schedule has been drawn up.

“This seeks to implement far-reaching reforms affecting prisons officers and all categories of inmates,” Dr Chweya said, adding that the programme would affect remandees, death row inmates as well as those serving other sentences.

A ministry official who spoke to the Sunday Nation on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to the media said the death row inmates were a source of disorder in prisons as well as of numerous con games involving mobile phones.

In the past year, cases of indiscipline and open conflict involving death row inmates have been reported in prisons in Nairobi, Rift Valley and Coast provinces.

Kenya has not carried out an execution in nearly 25 years. In 1984, Senior Private Hezekiah Ochuka, the convicted leader of the August 1982 coup attempt against the Daniel arap Moi government, was hanged.

Death row convicts are held mainly in two maximum security prisons at Kamiti and Naivasha. But there are others at King’ong’o in Nyeri and Shimo la Tewa in Mombasa.

Last December, several death row prisoners at Kamiti staged a daring attack on warders when the officers were carrying out a search to rid the institution of illegal mobile phones.

The warders were not only shocked by the stiff resistance they met from the death row inmates in Block G but also by the weapons they found there.

They also found a laptop computer, a Safaricom wireless internet modem, and a DVD player, among other things.

One of the country’s leading mobile phone operators upgraded its system after death row inmates in Naivasha interfered with its operations as they used their smuggled phones to run illegal scams from the prison.

The death sentence can be handed down in Kenya for the capital offences of treason, murder, robbery with violence and attempted robbery with violence.

Information obtained by the Sunday Nation shows that on average, 340 people have been condemned to death each year since 2005.

In 2004 there were 3,405 inmates on death row, but in 2005 this figure had dropped to 3,400. Five had either died of natural causes or succeeded in appeal.

But since then the number of death row prisoners has been rising steadily.

Since no prisoners have been executed since 1984 and, with the possibility of a moratorium on death sentences mooted, questions are now being raised as to why the death sentence remains on Kenya’s statute books.

On December 22, 2007, eight death row inmates staged a daring escape from the maximum security prison at Naivasha by scaling a 20-foot perimeter wall.

Last June, 87 inmates went on a hunger strike to demand that their cases be heard by a Malindi high court after being moved from Shimo la Tewa.

And last December, two death row inmates died in Kamiti, and another three were rendered partially blind after drinking alcohol illicitly brewed in their cells.

The death penalty has been abolished in the countries of the 27-member European Union as well as in several Latin American nations.

During prison reforms introduced by former Vice-President Moody Awori, death row inmates acted as teachers for those inmates who wanted to pursue education while serving their terms. This has been stopped since an inmate was killed in the riot staged last year.

At the Kamiti Maximum Security Prison, TV and radio sets donated to inmates have since been confiscated and the canteen services stopped.

Inmates of Block G, where death row inmates awaiting the appeal of their cases or those on transfer are held, are rarely allowed out. They are only allowed 30 minutes break outside the cells to have their meals.

Other blocks holding death row inmates include “Isolation” and “Condemn A”. Condemn A houses have about 150 death row inmates waiting for the hangman’s noose or presidential clemency.

It is here that the execution chamber, which is serviced weekly, is situated.

Isolation block holds about 450 death row inmates awaiting appeals against their sentences. Block G holds about 700 death row inmates.

A month ago, authorities banned daily visits for death row inmates; now relatives can visit them only once a week.

According to Amnesty International, more than 90 countries have abolished the death penalty for all crimes. These include France, Belgium, and The Czech Republic as well as African countries Angola, Rwanda, Mauritius and Mozambique.

Rwanda abolished the law in 2007. Its last recorded execution was carried out by firing squad in 1998. But other countries like Brazil, Chile and Israel have retained the death penalty for what they term “exceptional crimes” such as those committed under martial law or crimes committed in exceptional circumstances, such as war.

Stories by Daniel Wesangula, David Okwembah and Dominic Wabala