No prisoner in Western has received a presidential pardon in five years, to the best of our knowledge, inmates at Kakamega's main prison said on Wednesday.
This came up during a visit by the Power of Mercy Advisory Committee. The prisoners' memorandum was read by Geoffrey Wesonga.
“We strongly and optimistically believe that this visit is an indicator of light at the end of the tunnel towards the realisation of our major and ultimate goal of reuniting with our families back home," he read.
"We have had issues requiring your clarity as a committee, which include the fact that we have never heard of prisoners from this region benefiting from the Power of Mercy Advisory Committee. Not as long as our minds can remember.”
The prisoners asked whether Pomac has delivered on its duty to help those who have overstayed in prison as well as assisting the government in its decongestion programme.
They said the committee's timetable is inconsistent and without clear timelines on when reformed prisoners are recommended for pardon.
“We stand corrected here, but your timetable is not consistent in the sense that we can’t predict when Pomac is visiting us and the outcome of the visit is never known," Wesonga read.
"Since 2014 we haven’t heard of any prisoner being released on presidential pardon and now five years down the line nothing is happening.”
Inmates from Kakamega Main Prison and the women's prison attended the meeting. They were educated on the thresholds and requirements for qualification for presidential pardon.
Vice chairperson Janet Kirui explained that they work on a part-time basis, which gives them little time to effectively deliver on their mandate and prisoners' expectations.
She said the committee is up to the task. Since taking office seven months ago Pomac has already perused 700 prisoner files, Kirui said.
"...in only seven months we have visited 14 institutions and have heard several cases after perusing over 700 files of prisoners and have also done several personal interviews and proposed some names to the President for pardon according to the law,” Kirui said.
The officer in charge of the prison, Henry Ochieng, urged courts to listen to remandees' cases to ease congestion.
Edited by Josephine M. Mayuya
