Bribery, slow wheels of justice fuel frequent prison breaks

Questions are being raised over the safety of inmates in Kenya’s prisons after a series of jail breaks in recent years. Central Kenya’s King’ong’o appears to be the holder of the break-outs trophy following the escape of inmates less than two weeks ago.

It was at the notorious prison that six inmates were killed 10 years ago, allegedly as they attempted to escape. Elsewhere, in 2008, three suspects escaped from custody at Kakamega police station while there have been many attempts. But at King’ong’o, one of the country’s major penal establishments, there are concerns that inmates are paying their way to freedom by offering bribes to warders.

In Kibera, a proposal by Parliament that houses adjacent to the Lang’ata Women’s Prison be given to warders could see many slum residents vacate. The houses have been viewed as a security threat since occupants at the top floors have an easy view of the prison compound. In the latest jail breaks on June 13, two prisoners escaped from King’ong’o while two of their colleagues suffered broken limbs while trying to jump over a high perimeter wall.

A detective familiar with the case but who cannot be named says the two may have been aided to escape after paying a bribe, while two of their colleagues were denied such chance and only ended up breaking their legs. The two injured inmates were taken to the Nyeri provincial general hospital with broken limbs after they were arrested a short distance from the perimeter wall.

Although the officer in charge, Mr Stephen Kabiro, has declined to comment on the matter, his boss in charge of the province, Mr Duncan Ogore, insisted that the two inmates who escaped may have done so with injuries. “Those saying that the two escaped without injuries because they were aided are only making assumptions because you can only prove that upon the arrest of the suspects,” he said.

The officers also declined to comment on the frequent escape by prisoners from the jail, saying only the inmates could offer reasons as to why they chose to escape. “I do not know why they chose or managed to escape; you can only get that by asking them (inmates),” Mr Ogore said.

The authorities were at pains to explain how a tightly guarded prison with a tower that is manned by armed warders appears unable to curb the escape of unarmed inmates. Another officer, who could not be named, said police were investigating the role of a woman who frequently visited the inmates and was believed to have paid a bribe to have them released.

This is not the first time that prison authorities have been found wanting in dealing with inmates. Last year, some officers at the Kamiti jail were found to have been behind the smuggling of drugs and mobile phones to inmates, which they in turn used to fleece the public by pretending to be single, eligible bachelors looking for monied, independent single women or by sending threats and demanding ransom.

At King’ong’o, prisoners have been making easy escapes with at least three incidents occurring last year. During one of the escapes, residents of Kiawara slums, which neighbour the prison, were harassed by armed warders looking for the fugitives. They searched houses and combed the banks of River Chania.

Prison warders who have been caught receiving bribes to allow criminal activities within prisons have blamed their actions on poor pay and working conditions. Some of the officers live in squalid conditions such as mud houses with poor sanitation and share small rooms with their families.

Things are no better at their places of work where they encounter unhappy inmates who have stayed for years, waiting for courts to conclude their cases. King’ong’o holds more than 1,700 inmates against a capacity of 600, according to prison authorities.

Most of the prisoners are unhappy with their pending cases, fuelling fears that such inmates could easily find means to escape from confinement due to frustration with the justice process. Poorly paid and unmotivated prison staff and frustrated inmates make a dangerous mix in easing the escape of crafty prisoners.

In an earlier interview with the Nation, Mr Kabiro said there was growing frustration with the dragging of cases due to alarming inefficiencies such as missing court files. “We do not know what to do with some of the cases, which have dragged on for years because the files have mysteriously gone missing,” he said.

Judiciary official

A Judiciary official in Nyeri said the slow dispensation of justice was causing congestion at the King’ong’o Prison, although there was no direct correlation with frequent jail breaks. According to the official, there is frustration in the Judiciary over lack of staff and equipment to help speed up the delivery of justice.

At the Nyeri High Court, there is only one judge expected to handle more than 2,000 pending civil and criminal cases. The judge is forced to take inordinately long periods to determine a single capital offence with, for instance, a murder case requiring him to hear and corroborate evidence from an average of 10 witnesses.

The judge has to record proceedings on his own as the courts have yet to adopt the electronic recording system. “We need at least three judges to help clear the mounting number of cases,” said the officer. According to the officer, the number of pending cases is going up because of increased litigation.

The situation is the same at the magistrates courts, where rulings in 4,000 civil and criminal cases are pending. The few magistrates who are there, the Nation was told, have administrative duties and are not able to commit to expending cases full time.

To help clear the backlog, the magistrates are overworked and hardly take annual leave. The department also lacks equipment such as computers. There are also few typists, a cadre of staff that is required to type hearings and rulings by magistrates.

The officer also blames lawyers for making unnecessary adjournments, especially in civil cases, and for failing to take up pauper briefs, which would help speed up cases. He said the Judiciary has put a cap of six months for lawyers and the courts to determine civil cases to deal with errant advocates.

Nyeri Bar Association’s Lemigeo Mugambi says one of the reasons lawyers avoid pauper briefs is because the government pays peanuts for such services.

Pauper briefs

“You will most certainly find that only young lawyers seeking to establish themselves take up pauper briefs because the terms are not attractive,” he said. The community service order that was touted as a way of helping decongest jails has also faced impediments as it has been found not to be corrective.

Those who have in the past been put on community service reportedly are re-arrested and jailed for even bigger crimes. “There is a trend of petty offenders hatching into major offenders even after going through community service,” says the source at the Nyeri Judiciary office.