Date: Fri, 8 May 2009 23:10:37 -0700 [05/09/2009 01:10:37 AM CDT]
From: Leo Odera Omolo
Subject: MUCH HIGHLIGHTED REFORMS IN KENYA PRISONS IS STILL FAR AWAY FROM BEING FULLY IMPLEMENTED AND THE CHANGES SO FAR INTRODUCED ARE JUST COSMETIC

MUCH HIGHLIGHTED REFORMS IN KENYA PRISONS IS STILL FAR AWAY FROM BEING FULLY IMPLEMENTED AND THE CHANGES SO FAR INTRODUCED ARE JUST COSMETIC.
A daunting experienced of an inmate
Writes Leo Odera Omolo
The much talked modernization and reforms in the Prison Services in Kenya remained just cosmetic and still far away from being effectively effected.
Kenyan inmates still goes through harrowing experience. The inmates lives in a very pathetic conditions full of bullying by ever drunken youthful and freshly recruited prison wardens. Conditions in the Kenya Prisons Services remained the same as what it used to be 30years ago.
It is even worse, especially in small prison facilities, which are located in remote out posts in various parts of the country.
This writer recently spent one night inside Migori GK Prison where he was where he was locked up after failing to raise a fine of Kshs 80,000 imposed on him by a Migori Senior Resident Magistrate following a private criminal prosecution instituted by the former Rongo MP George Mbogo Ochillo-Ayacko.
$ayacko had instituted a defamation of character suit against four persons, who included this writer, the Princiupal of Sawagongo Secondary School in Siaya Mr. Kaunda Ogweno, a retired former Telkom Kenya regional engineer Mr. Phillip Makabongo’ and a Kisumu based freelance journalist Mr. Jeff Otieno Aguko.
In the final ruling, Kaunda Ogweno was acquitted of all the three charges of writing ,printing and publishing a defamatory article against the former legislator who had earlier told the court that as the result of the defamatory article he lost his parliamentary seat.
Makabongo was fined Kshs 50,000 or six months imprisonment in default. Jeff Otieno Aguko was also fined 50,00 or six months imprisonment in default, while Leo Odera Omolo was fined 80,000 or nine months imprisonment in default.
Makabong’o and Aguko raised the fines and walked to freedom . I had less money and could not raise sufficient amount in time, so I was whisked away and banged into Migori GK Prison for overnight stay.
The only visible reform is that inmates can now enjoy viewing Television and listening to radio
broadcastings. A TV set is fitted on the wall of the main prison hall. Prisoners spent their
evenings watching , mainly Voice of Kenya , channel one
There is also a remarkable sanitation inside the Prison Hall, but the Hall is congested to capacity with
two prisoners sharing one mattresses.
The most interesting feature of the whole ordeal, was that there was no ready prison uniform that could fit onto my bulky body. A search was conducted in the store, but none was available. I had to contend with my civilian clothes.
The harrowing experience I gained is that inmates are still being subjected to bullying, unprovoked and unjustified beatings by some newly recruited prison wardens, some of who turns up for night duty while under the excessive influence of alcohol” Chang’aa”}.This is an area where the Prisons authorities must ensure is urgently addressed..
On the very night of my arrival, a young prison warden by the name Turuka Turuka Rioba who I was told is of Kuria tribe reported on night duty of guarding prisoners while excessive drunk, and got involve in nasty exchange of provocative words with me His vitriol’s went on for the better part of the night until he felt asleep and slept heavily in a blackout state of drunkardness.
Night prison began with God fearing inmates engaging themselves in long session of preaching the word of gospel and prayers. One of the inmates would turn up to be an evangelist and preaches the word of gospel to his fellow prisoners and this would be followed by prolonged prayers.
This session comes soon immediately after the famous Kava Kava, during which time the prisoners squats together in one corner of the main prison hall for the night counting.
What has gone through the remarkable transformation is the much improved prisoners diet of sukuma wiki, cabbage, beans and ugali and at times beef for change of diet.
Senior prison warden from the ranks of corporal and above are friendly and at times very useful to the inmates.There is also this man who is handling prisoners welfare with professional touches. This particular turns up at noon and conduct session with inmates trying to find out their personal problems, health and also interview the ailing inmates and he recommends for urgent treatment or arranging for the sick inmates to see government doctors or to visit Medicare’s under security escort..
Problems in our prisons, however., lies with youthful and inexperienced prison warden. They are full of bullying and used derogatorily insults against inmates. No wonder there has been a series of violent riots in Kenyan prisons in recent years.
Some of the young prison warden behaves as if they are above the law, using unprintable words while abusing the inmates. Such unpatriotic officers are working contrary to the prison authorities laid down rule of corrective measures and rehabilitation of prisoners characters .Excessive bullying by fellow inmates is no longer there. And inmates in Migori GK Prison are well disciplined lots.
Concerted efforts in maintaining the high standard of hygienic is visible, but only derailed by the excessive congestions in the prisons main hall. All looked well, but the hell broke only after the night duty officers have reported to work with some of them totally drunk.

Each of the drunken warden starts by asking newly arrival inmates some irrelevant questions such as inquiring to know the reasons why they were sent to prison. Failure to provide good answer or keeping silent ends up with a hard slap in the chick of the prisoner. Other drunken prison warden tells their tribesmen to beat up fellow prisoners etc.
Some of the inmates who preferred their names to remain anonymous confided to this writer some of the young prison warden on duties have been spotted smoking bhang while on duty and within the facility. Disciplinary on the part of young officers is wanting
However, senior prison officials are doing excellent job while communicating orders to the inmates in a humane manners devoid of bullying.
While inside Migori GK Prison, this writer discovered that there is a large number of Tanzanians inmates. Most of them people who were arrested inside Kenyan and arraigned to courts and charged with the offences of trespass, unlawfully presence in Kenyan contrary to immigration.
Of course the mass arresting and jailing of Tanzanians in Kenya is contrary to the spirit of regional integration process in which both Tanzanian and Kenyan authorities are signatories.to the East African Community Treaty and regional integration protocols, which calls for freedom movement of labor and persons.
Kenya-Tanzania borderline is somehow rather cumbersome in that some tribes living across the boundaries are cut by halves with some of their halves in Tanzania and others in Kenya. This is the reason why the controlling the borderline is not an easy task .These are the Luos, Kurias, Maasais, Digos and Pokomos. The borderline stretches from Lake Victoria in Nyatike district to the Coast Province and winds up in Kwale district.
At time the Luos in Tanzania crosses the border to attend the funeral and burial of their relatives in Migori and Nyatike district using what is commonly called ”Panya Routes”,but when they are caught by the forces of reinforcement they usually ended in prison. Of course there were also few cases of hard-core criminal involving in border crossings. But the situation need to be addressed by the two governments.
Some of the Tanzanians languishing in Migori prison are smugglers of goods, petty traders etc
It is imperative for potential criminals to know that prisons is not a luxury hotel and each and every good citizens should maintain good conduct
Ends
leooderaomolo@yahoo.com
hi.

KENYAPOOR PEOPLE TO SLIP FURTHER INTO EXTREMLY POVERTY AS HIGH FOOD PRICES BATTERING THE LOW INCOME BRACKET GROUPS’
Says a World Bank and FAO reports
Write3s Leo Odera Omolo
KENYA’s poor will slide further into extreme poverty as the year progressed due to the impact of soaring food prices and the global economic crisis in their low incomes.
This follows a warning by leading international organization that by the end of 2008,one in every six people in the world will become chronically hungry person.
The Food and Agriculture Organization{FAO},A United Nations arm, estimated that an additional 35-90 million people will be trapped in extreme poverty this year due to the worldwide recession.
The numbers, ,the Global Monitoring Report 2009;A Development Emergency {GMR} says, will come from developing countries with more than half of emerging countries expected to experience a rise in the number of their extreme poor in this year.
“This proportion is likely to be higher among low-income countries and mostly countries in sub-Saharan Africa,”the report highlights.
Kenya is in both categories. But its situation is aggravated by the high increase in food prices that averaged 30 per cent in 2008, and that has kept trend by the first four months of 2009.
The result has been an increase in the pace at which Nairobi’s lower income group is sliding towards becoming chronically hungry people by about five percentage points to 376 per cent in March, up from 31.9 per cent in February 2009.
The rate should be much higher in April given that overall inflation rate climbed from 258 per cent in March to 26.1 per cent in April.
In the North Rift, particularly in the semi-arid districts of Northern Kenya hunger devastated.
families have now resorted to feeding on wild fruits.
Deaths as the result of starvation and hunger have of late been reported in Turkana, Baringo and Marakwet districts while the usually rich in food regions have suffered the same fate as the result of prolonged drought and change in weather pattern.
He pastoral communities., which depends entirely on their livestock as the only reliable source of food
have suffered the worse with thousands of their animals being whipped out owing to lack of green
pasture and grazing fields.
“The impact of drought in the first quarter of this year is the major factor behind higher food prices and
therefore high inflation..”
“A decline in food prices and overall inflation with the largely dependant on weather ,i.e onset of
adequate rains, and availability of major imports bridge the shortfall in domestic production,’ reads
the recently released Central Bank of Kenya analysts.
The fear is that the global recession will break the sustained growth in developing countries identified
as essential to reducing the high poverty incidence
The main problem is food affordability particularly. for poor people, whose incomes will be reduced by
the recession,” a report by the World Bank warns.
In Kenya for example under its vision 2030,the government had estimated that to attain a middle
income level, the country’s economy needed to grow by at a rat of at least 10 per cent over the next 2o
years.
The vision is now at risk with the termination of the high growth rate in 2007 with the country recording
a meager 2.1 per cent growth in 2008 and a projected 2 per cent in the current y4ear.
Ends
leooderaomolo@yahoo.com

About the author’;
Leo Odera Omolo is a veteran Kenyan journalist operating mainly in the Western part of the country. He
is also a frequent visitor to the neighbouring Tanzania and Uganda.. He can be reached via Telephone
Numbers 0722 486181 and 0734 509215 or though his mail address at P.O.BOX 833, KISUMU, Kenya