Death row inmates seek Uhuru pardon

More than 1,000 death row convicts are asking President Uhuru Kenyatta to pardon them, says a report.

More than 3,000 others serving life sentences made the same plea, saying they miss their families and also wished to take part in nation-building.

The committee that advises the President on pardons received a total of 23,808 petitions between July 2013 and June 2014. “They will be reviewed before they are sent to State House for a decision,” says the report by the Power of Mercy Advisory Committee.

At least 1,107 petitions are from convicts on death row while 3,376 are from those serving life sentences. Most petitioners (10, 171) are those serving under seven years. Only 12 convicts with serious medical conditions sought to be pardoned.

“The committee has so far reviewed 18,956 petitions and interviewed 867 prisoners in various prisons across the country,” says the report prepared between last year July and June 30 2014.

National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale tabled the report in Parliament last week and MPs will have a chance to go through it. The committee, chaired by Attorney-General Githu Muigai, with Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Lenku as one of seven members is established by Article 133 of the Constitution.

After reviewing the petitions, the team may advise the President to reduce the sentence or set the convict free. The petition may be thrown out altogether.

Other than one-on-one interviews, the committee also looks at various documents at the prison, including medical reports plus other relevant material on convicts.

CONDITIONAL PARDONS

Most of those set free are on conditional pardons and are normally supervised by prison officers.

The team travelled across the country where it discussed with governors and county commissioners ways of enhancing integration of those who are released back into the community.

“The forums with the leaders opened up areas where the committee could collaborate with the counties, particularly in the areas of successive resettlement and post-release monitoring of convicts,” said the advisory committee’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Michael Kagika.

The team has been in existence since October 2011 and this year’s report is its third.

In 2012, President Mwai Kibaki pardoned 2,850 petty offenders, 2,586 first-time offenders and 1,227 ordinary prisoners of good conduct.

Pardoning inmates is aimed at decongesting prisons, with reports that almost all of them are now holding more than four times their capacities.

Some 37 prisoners aged more than 65 years and confirmed to be terminally ill could be set free.