DCI probes scandal of hardcore prisoners on parole list

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has stopped the release of 120 hardcore criminals under the Presidential Pardon Scheme. The DCI has further launched  investigations into suspected bribery of top prisons officials who selected the convicts to be freed.

The decision to stop the release of the prisoners was reached after the DCI conducted a fingerprint analysis, only to discover that on the list were hardcore prisoners who did not meet the conditions for release under the presidential pardon.

CLEMENCY LIST

“As a law enforcement agency, we have noted with concern that most convicted criminals find their way back to the society where they continue to commit crimes in an even more atrocious manner,” said the DCI.

Police suspect that the criminals on the list might have bribed prison authorities to include them on the clemency list.

The George Kinoti-led agency has recommended that an inquiry be instituted to determine the circumstances leading to the recommendation for pardon of convicts who failed the entire process as set out.

The convicts, some with 22 straight convictions, are among inmates who were scheduled to be released under the Power of Mercy bestowed upon the President as per the 2010 Constitution of Kenya.

Of the 120 convicts that were set for pardon, 82 were robbery with violence offenders, 22 were murder convicts and 11 were jailed for other offences.

Besides, the majority of them are between the ages of 32 and 50 and there is fear such persons can easily fall back to a life of crime if released from jail.

The DCI now wants the current Power of Mercy committee to include representatives from the DCI, National Intelligence Service (NIS), Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) and the Ministry of Interior and Government Coordination, among other relevant agencies to scrutinise deserving cases of convicts that can be pardoned under the Power of Mercy.

In a letter to Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i, the DCI reveals that some of the convicts had many convictions and a majority of the offences committed by those on the list were capital in nature.

SERIOUS OFFENCES

“We received a letter from the AG for the first time dated May 15, 2019, to vet 120 names of convicts recommended by prison puthorities to the Power of Mercy Committee.

“A team of forensic fingerprint experts conducted analysis of the 120 convicts as stated in the AG’s letter. It was established that some of the convicts had many previous convictions and a majority of the offences were capital in nature. The said report is herein attached for ease of reference,” the letter reads in part.

The DCI avers that the prisons authorities breached the provisions of Section 22 of the Power of Mercy Act in their consideration of deserving cases to be forwarded to the Power of Mercy Committee for pardon. In determining the deserving cases, the criteria is to go by age, circumstances of the offence, whether the convict was a first-time offender, seriousness of the offence, length of conviction, length of period served by prisoner in remand, physical fitness of the convict, state and community interest, among others.

One of the glaring cases in the first category is a 47-year-old jailbird, who has been charged and found guilty of 22 serious offences.

He was charged for the first time at the age of nine and faced subsequent cases, including breaking into buildings, stealing and theft of motor vehicles.

The inmate, who was born in 1972, is a repeat offender whose last crime was committed in 2008.

Another case is that of a 63-year-old convict with 21 convictions.

DEATH SENTENCE

The man, born in 1956, was first convicted in 1978 when he was 22 and has continuously committed more offences, with the last one committed in 2011 when he was aged 55.

Some 67 of those on the clemency list are from Naivasha Maximum Security Prison, six from Kamiti Maximum Security Prison, eight from Embu Prison, 14 from Nyeri Maximum Security Prison and nine from Eldoret Main Prison, among others.

Forty-six-year-old Nicholas Githega Musyoka was first arrested by officers from Pangani Police Station for possession of bhang and fined Sh1,800 or in default serve six months in prison.

Two years later, he was again arrested by Pangani officers for robbery in a case that remains unsettled and later arrested by Kilimani police for burglary and stealing.

He was arrested two years later again by Pangani police for robbery with violence and imprisoned for life at Naivasha Maximum Security Prison as NAV/97/014/LS.

John Kamau Njoroge, 43, was first arrested by Kinangop police for committing a felony.

The case is pending but he was again arrested by officers from the same station for robbery with violence, for which he was sentenced to death and lodged as inmate NAV/2295/09/LS.

Also on the list is Jason Omondi Nyabwa, arrested by Ahero police for assault and murder vide CR No. 602/356/01 and handed a 20-year sentence while Abdallah Mwangi was first arrested by Meru police vide CR No. 411/71/85 for stealing from a house and sentenced to one-year probation. He was arrested again six years later by Kerugoya police for burglary and stealing and sentenced to two years imprisonment and one stroke of the cane.

BODILY HARM

Two years later, he was arrested by Embu police for possession of bhang. While the hearing of his bhang possession case was ongoing, he was arrested by Runyenjes police for robbery with violence. He is currently detained at Nyeri prison.

Raphael Losike Emulia (NAV/313/011/LS) was arrested by Nayuki police for robbery with violence and sentenced to death on four counts.

Another convict on the clemency list is Lutirim Esokon, who was arrested by Rumuruti police for assault and causing bodily harm.

Francis Karanja Muya, 52, who was arrested by Naivasha police for robbery with violence, is also on the clemency list. He is serving his life sentence at the  Naivasha maximum security prison as NAV/234509/LS.

James Maina (NYR/384/018/LF) has four times been arrested, charged and convicted for robbery in Nyeri and Nakuru and was sentenced to death by hanging.

Joseph Mutisya Mwangangi, 42, who is serving a death sentence as NAV/39/016 for robbery with violence, was also included on the clemency list as was 54-year-old Paul Keli Kilubia, arrested by Kilome police for breaking into a shop and stealing in 1988 and is serving a life sentence as NAV/922/018/LS.

Laban Nyagah Njue, a serial robber with five previous robbery with violence cases in Embu, Runyenjes and Chuka currently serving life sentence in Meru prison as MER/598/2018/LS also features on the list.

Forty-eight-year-old Joseph Kimondo Waweru serving a life sentence at Naivasha maximum security prison for robbery and burglary and possession of bhang offences in Loitoktok, Muranga since 1985 and lodged as NAV/2389/09/LS has also been included on the list.