Welcome to jail, and feel at home

Can you imagine being treated like a valued guest at a Kenyan prison? For a long time, Kenyans have equated going to prison with a death sentence.

But this is slowly changing as the Embu Prison has taken the first step to making their guests feel valued. This follows a three-week training on customer care and public relations. The training is going on now.

Penal institution

Kenyan prisons, ranked among the worst penal institutions in the world, have been accused of failing to deal with cholera and how to handle its “customers”. Rooms that were built to accommodate 20 inmates hold up to 70 prisoners or more.

The food, sanitary conditions and sleeping conditions are no better. Two prisoners share a 3 by 6 mattress. From Naivasha to Nyeri and Kamiti, the conditions are the same. On cleanliness, Prisons authorities have been accused of responding in a mere fire-fighting gesture instead of seeking long-term solutions.

Cholera, health experts say, is a consequence of poor hygiene and sanitation. That is why, medics add, it hits prisons and slums where living conditions are appalling. Over the last two years, the Kenya Prisons Service has captured negative headlines.

A few years ago, warders staged a countrywide strike paralysing the entire justice system for two days. They were demanding better pay and working conditions. The government responded by sacking nine senior prison officers it accused of plotting a mutiny although they moved to court to challenge the move.

In November last year, some 18 inmates died after contracting cholera at Kamiti jail. Before that, warders from the same penal institution were captured on camera bludgeoning inmates. The offenders were being punished after being found with various contraband items during a search. Following the incident in which nude inmates were captured crying while being clobbered senseless, the boss of the facility was transferred.

The Embu prison boss, Mr Aggrey Onyango, said that the training will impart skills on wardens to enable them uphold professionalism in their duties while respecting the public and the prisoners. The officer said they were aiming at creating a positive image to the outside world, adding that warders had dropped their ruthless reputation.

“Our officers must be able to relate well with the prisoners so that we rehabilitate them as per our mandate. We are undertaking reforms to change our image,” he said. The course has been organised by the Prisons and the Government Training Institute. Warders undergoing the course complained that their welfare had been neglected at a time when that of prisoners was being prioritised.

Worse conditions

They particularly want their pay improved. The warders have since independence lived under worse conditions than the prisoners. In some staff quarters, for example, the warders live in mud-wall huts labelled prison officers’ quarters. They complained that they do not have a union to express their grievances to the employer. Mr Onyango said that public officers should be made to improve their interpersonal skills, adding, the Embu prison now welcomes outsiders.

In a phone interview with the Nation, Mr Onyango said the training was triggered by the prison reforms that were introduced by former Vice-President Moody Awori. He said that he wants people to be proud to be associated with prison, adding that prisons were now open to scrutiny by interested groups.