Wrongfully jailed for 13 years, but I am at peace with all

Morris Kaberia was once a prisoner of his pride but wrongful incarceration at Kamiti for 13 years humbled him.

“I used to be a police officer in Embu and was operating an avocado business as a side hustle,” Mr Kaberia told this writer.

“I owned a pick-up truck, which I would use to drop my avocados at Marikiti market in Nairobi. As I was on my way home from the city one day, I was arrested and locked up. Days later, I was charged with robbery with violence.”

Kaberia refuses to divulge the details of his arrest and the charges preferred against him, which saw a judge sentence him to death.

The former long-serving death row inmate, however, says it could have been a set up.

“Things happened fast. It is like I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was only while in the dock that I learnt of the charges,” he says with the wisdom of a man who has spent more than a decade making peace with himself and others against the demons of bitterness and regret.

“I cannot tell you more. I want to go back to the world peacefully."

ARRESTED
Kaberia was arrested in 2005 and sentenced to hang in 2013.
“President Uhuru Kenyatta commuted my sentence to life imprisonment in October 2016,” Kaberia said.

His experience at the maximum security prison taught him patience, love and understanding beyond what he could have comprehended when he was in the police force.

Kaberia successfully defended himself in court on September 20, 2018, putting an end to his 13-year ordeal.
The Appellate Court said Kaberia’s rights were violated during the trial and ruled against his sentence and conviction.

Kaberia and many other inmates and wardens at Kamiti were all part of a University of London Law programme run by African Prisons Project — a Non-Governmental Organisation that works with individuals in correctional institutions.

It puts the law in the hands of the underprivileged through providing quality legal advice, training and education to those living and working in prison.

“We teach those most in need of justice to access it themselves. By helping people to know their rights, we empower them to be change makers,” Hamisi Mzari, a legal officer with the organisation, said.

BACK TO SCHOOL

According to Mzari, Kaberia’s application stood out because he expressed a strong desire to further his education and give back to the prison community in particular and society in general.

“In the statement of purpose during his application for the law course, Kaberia spoke about missing a chance to go to university because he was too proud to repeat Form Four and improve his Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examination grade,” Mzari said.

“The prisoner said he would help fellow inmates once he acquired a certificate.”

Kaberia at first dismissed the notion of going back to school. He said academic learning was for the children he left behind when he was sent to jail.

“He once told me that school was for his sons and daughters, not him,” said William, “The One and Only”, an inmate and classmate who finally convinced Kaberia to join the programme.

Kaberia has since earned a diploma in law and is studying for a degree.

As a child, Kaberia dreamt of becoming a lawyer after seeing Gitobu Imanyara — former Imenti Central MP and political activist — defend his clients.

Imanyara is among the many Kenyans who were detained by the Kanu regime in the 1980s for demanding an end to one-party dictatorship.

“As soon as I picked up my first law book, I never let go. Studying law drastically changed my life,” he said.

NOT EASY

Kaberia admits that getting used to prison life, especially after serving as a policeman, was not easy.

“I was a very bitter man when I arrived at Kamiti. When I was a police officer, I could not imagine engaging in any way with a suspect, leave alone a convict. I thought once someone was a suspect or convict, their lives were ruined yet here I was taking orders from prison warders,” he said.

“I was resistant at first and kept shouting back that I was an officer just like them when they told me to ‘kaba’ (squat) like other inmates. They reminded me that at Kamiti, I was a prisoner.”

He says it was difficult to deal with his new situation though he came to learn a lot from it.

The acting officer in charge of the prison, Isaac Naderia, who infuses his words with passages from the Bible, agrees with Kaberia.

“It has been a long journey for him, having come to Kamiti on capital remand. Kaberia had a difficult time accepting his new status, having been a law enforcement officer before. Eventually, he gained back his self-esteem and joined the APP classes. He was a hard worker and go-getter from the start,” he said.

REFLECTIONS

For a man who spent 13 years paying for a crime he did not commit, Kaberia is a happy, smiles and jokes about his time in prison, shedding a tear once in a while as he reflects on the past.

“I have no regrets whatsoever about my time in prison,” he said.

“I have come to see my going to Kamiti Maximum Security Prison as a great opportunity that God gave me to learn more about myself and enlarge my academic boundaries. That was made possible by the University of London Bachelor of Law course that I’m pursuing through the sponsorship of APP.”

Kaberia still counts himself lucky and is grateful that the opportunity drew him closer to God.

“I was a nominal Christian when I arrived at Kamiti, but that changed after some time. I have been seeing God’s hand since I entered prison. When I went to church, I learnt to live like Jesus Christ who assisted the poor, the needy and the neglected. The project gave me the tools to help bring justice to those who need it,” he added.

One is curious to find out how he felt to walk out of the prison gates for the first time in almost a decade and a half.

HAPPY RE-UNION

“I was ecstatic! I felt born again, and it was an experience that will remain with me for the rest of my life,” Kaberia said.

The first thing he wanted to do after tasting freedom was to see his children once again.

“One day while still at Kamiti, my son asked me a question by phone: ‘Dad will you ever come back?’ It was a very painful question. I told him that with God, everything is possible. I never wanted my family to visit me at Kamiti because I did not want them to see me in the prison uniform,” a tearful Kaberia said.

So how was it like when he saw his sons for the first time after all those years behind bars?

“My son who had asked the difficult question could not remember me at all. He said he had seen me in his mother’s photographs but did not know who I was. It was sad but I understood him,” Kaberia said.

Among the other things he did when he stepped out of prison was to visit his father’s grave. The old man died in 2010.

Kaberia is grateful that his wife stuck by his side all through his years in prison.

"I can never take it for granted that my wife did not leave. I am indeed a lucky man. She has been the family pillar throughout my imprisonment. My wife encouraged me and stayed by my side. Coming across such a woman is not easy," Kaberia said.

“Many women take off when their husbands go to prison. I felt good and grateful that she waited for me all these years even as she went through a lot of pain and the negative talk of being married to a prisoner.”
Kaberia has not met all his children so far.

“I have met all my close family members except my daughter and my son who is a KCSE examination candidate,” he said.
“I called the school and the teachers said they would allow me to meet him before he begins the examination. I can’t wait for that day.”

WRITING

He did not just gain humility, love, patience and understanding during his time in prison.

Kaberia also discovered a talent for writing, though not like luminaries such as Ngugi wa Thiong’o, John Kiriamiti or Maina wa Kinyatti, who wrote some of their manuscripts while incarcerated.
Kaberia is currently working on two books.

“The first one is about marriage and family. It gives directions and advice for those who are married and those planning to get into it,” he said.

“The other book is about justice. Our forefathers fought and shed blood for this country’s independence. Their intention was to create a just and equal society but the politicians believe they are special and marginalise the other Kenyans. It has contributed to a lot of injustice in our country. And it is painful.”

Kaberia believes laws should not be made for particular people but for the country as a whole.

“I have been in the police service and I know what injustice is. I have been an enforcer of the law and a prisoner. Kenyans need to sit down and talk,” he said.

“We can be very productive because this country has a lot of resources and hardworking people but injustice thrives. Unless we change our attitude and the way we do things, Kenya will never realise its potential.”

And despite the pain of wrongful imprisonment, Kaberia says he will miss his time at Kamiti.
“I will miss my friends. I met a loving community of people who care about me regardless of my ethnic background, religious or social status. When I became sick, a person I did not know would care for me. I learnt the value of being equal and I think Kenyans should emulate prisoners,” Kaberia said.

“When I was about to be released from prison, I was warned by warders and fellow inmates that the world out there would be completely different. They told me that I would meet many selfish people. I was never afraid of such when I was at Kamiti.”

And Kaberia plans to go back to Kamiti Prison. Not to spend a night there, he says laughing, but to continue assisting inmates with legal matters.

His dream? To complete his law degree and appear in court one day as a lawyer or an intermediary.

Kaberia also has a message to his friends still serving time. “Never ever lose hope…keep fighting!” he said.

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In Kenya today, more than 50,000 inmates are serving their time in overcrowded prisons where capacity is above 200 per cent, based on the latest data from World Prison Brief.

Of those incarcerated, more than 40 per cent — roughly 23,000 people — remain in detention for approximately two and a half years before their cases begin.

Many of these inmates come from poor backgrounds and have little education, which too often prevents them from accessing fair legal representation.

Proper reintegration into society ensures that former inmates benefit their communities upon release. This in turn reduces costly recidivism (the tendency of a convicted criminal to re-offend) rates.

However, as a result of incarceration and involvement in the criminal justice system , many ex-inmates are viewed negatively by their communities.

Cases of freed prisoners being attacked by mobs have been reported.

The combination of a limited professional network and a conspicuous resume gap makes it very difficult for ex-inmates to get employment despite having acquired education and skills from rehabilitation programmes provided within prison.

This makes it difficult for many to provide for their basic needs and support their families.

Former prisoners face stigma. Many in society hold them guilty for the crimes that they may have committed in their earlier years. With the right support, prisons can be places of positive transformation and catalysts to change.

Furthermore, during their time in incarceration, some inmates loose contact with family members. That means upon release, they lack a support system to help them regain their livelihood.

In addition to that, upon lengthy periods of incarceration, ex-inmates find that their expectations of returning to ordinary life are not always realistic. No one prepares them for the life after.

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Information compiled with data from World Prison Brief and African Prisons Project