• Senator Abdullahi said he will petition the Senate to see to it such outdated laws are changed.
• Prison commander Gacheru Kamore said the current laws were demoralising to the ex-convicts, and wardens who work so hard to correct the inmates.
The ‘archaic and punitive’ Prisons Act should be reviewed to allow ex-convicts to integrate back in society and get jobs, Wajir Senator Abdullahi has said.
Abdullahi said he will petition the Senate to ensure that such 'outdated' laws are changed.
In the current law, convicts cannot be employed by the government and many private-sector employers do not absorb people who have served jail terms.
The Senator spoke on Saturday at the Wajir GK Prison after opening a new vocational training centre equipped with computers and sewing machines.
“My understanding is that life does not start and end when somebody is convicted. Ex-prisoners continue to suffer yet nobody seems to be speaking about this,” he said.
The lawmaker said once someone has been rehabilitated and freed, there was no need for subjecting them to further suffering in their communities.
“Such individuals should be fully integrated into the community and allowed to serve their country in any field,” he said.
Prison commander Gacheru Kamore said the current laws were demoralising to the ex-convicts, and wardens who work so hard to correct the inmates.
“When we release people after serving their terms but cannot get a job, it discourages prisoners from taking courses here and makes our work very difficult,” he said.
Area county commissioner Lyford Kibaara said that despite concerted efforts from the government and relevant stakeholders, there was little success in combating drugs and substance abuse.
“We need to work with the security agencies and detect those who are involved in this business so that we can arrest them and take them to court,” Kibaara said.
(edited by O. Owino)