The Sexual Offences Act has been termed as unfair, and was blamed for the jailing of hundreds of innocent men.
The inmates and members of civil society want the act reviewed by Parliament as it favours women.
This emerged when civil society members and religious leaders joined inmates at Naivasha Medium Security Prison in marking Fathers' Day.
African Boy Child Network director Rosemary Kinuthia said 80 per cent of inmates had been charged with sexual offences.
She said in some incidents, the suspects were framed, adding that this left them with bitterness after they were jailed for offences they did not commit.
“It’s time that the act was reviewed as its sides with the women and that is why you find so many men in prison accused of sexual offences,” she said.
Kinuthia added that 40 per cent of suspects released from prison returned to revenge after years of suffering in jail.
“A recent research showed that 45 per cent of children in the country are born of single parents and this has an impact in lives,” she said.
An inmate, Meshack Otieno, who is serving ten years for attempted defilement, said that there was a lacuna in the Sexual Offences Act.
Otieno, who is a law student in the prison, said he would be seeking a review of the act once he left prison next year.
“The law clearly states what happens when a man sleeps with a minor but it doesn’t address the issue of what happens to a minor who sleeps with an elderly woman,” he said.
The inmate said there were tens of inmates who were innocent but had been jailed on the basis of the Act.
Another suspect, Benson Ndirangu, decried the long period used by courts to hear and determine a case noting that many people were suffering.
Ndirangu, who is charged with rape, said it had taken four years for his case to start. In the period, he had undergone untold suffering, he said.
“Bond terms should be reviewed as many of suspects who are innocent cannot raise the amount set by the courts,” he said.
Senior superintendent of prison Antony Muriuki said they were committed to reforming the inmates through various courses.
Edited by R.Wamochie
