Registration of prisoners to vote starts

Daniel Alele (right), an inmate at Naivasha Maximum Security Prison serving a life sentence, registers to vote in this photograph taken at the facility on February 21, 2017. PHOTO | MACHARIA MWANGI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Inmates at Naivasha Maximum Prison could not hide their excitement on Tuesday after becoming eligible to vote for a presidential candidate in the August polls.

  • An inmate serving a life sentence, Daniel Alele, was among the first people to register.

  • He said it was his first time to participate as a voter having spent 16 years behind bars for a robbery with violence offence.

More than 1,000 inmates at Naivasha Maximum Security Prison and Nakuru GK Prison are expected to register to vote after their listing started on Tuesday.

Inmates at Naivasha Maximum Prison could not hide their excitement on Tuesday after becoming eligible to vote for a presidential candidate in the August polls.

An inmate serving a life sentence, Daniel Alele, was among the first people to register. He said it was his first time to participate as a voter having spent 16 years behind bars for a robbery with violence offence.

But the man of the moment was police imposter Joshua Waiganjo, the prisoner who has declared interest in vying for a parliamentary seat despite being behind bars. His fellow inmates call him "mheshimiwa" (honourable person). He turned up to have his details transferred from Njoro, having previously registered.

The registration officer in charge of Naivasha constituency Roselyn Onyango said they will register inmates in three correction facilities, including the main prison, medium prison and the women’s prison.

“The main prison has 400 inmates with valid identity cards, with medium having 300 and the women’s prison slightly more than 100,” Ms Onyango said.

At Nakuru GK Prison, the turnout was, however, low with the Central Rift electoral commission acting coordinator Paul Kones saying that more than 14 inmates were registered.