Prisons hold more than double intended capacity

Vice-President George Saitoti said on Monday that Kenyan prisons were holding more than double their intended maximum capacity of inmates, the 'East African Standard' reported. According to Saitoti, there are currently more than 35,000 people being held in prisons designed to accommodate of total of only 14,000. The newspaper quoted Saitoti as saying that 40 percent of prisoners were being held on remand, awaiting trial, while the rest were convicted criminals serving their sentences in the country's 89 penal institutions. Saitoti blamed high prison numbers on rapid population increase and a concurrent escalation in the crime rate.

Saitoti also called for minimum standards to be set for the treatment of prisoners, and proposed the establishment of a code of conduct for prison officials. "I believe each country should set minimum standard rules for the treatment of prisoners and administration of juvenile justice," he was quoted as saying at the opening of a two-day seminar in Nyeri on prison policy in Kenya. The seminar followed the deaths on 30 September of six people being held in custody at Thika police station, 50 km northeast of Nairobi. The incident has renewed concerns over police treatment of prisoners and poor conditions in Kenyan prisons.