- The Prisons Department has banned visits to persons held in custody for the next 30 days.
- Production of soaps, detergents and hand sanitisers stepped up at Athi River prison to ensure a steady supply of the hand-washing materials.
Image: EZEKIEL AMING'A
No prisoner will be released from the country’s penitentiaries as the authorities have what it takes to protect those in custody from coronavirus.
Instead, the inmates will remain accommodated in their respective blocks, wards and cells as per the current registers.
The about 54,000 inmates and pre-trial remandees will be allowed only necessary movement. This means they will spend fewer hours in the open spaces and in the farmlands.
Already, the Prisons Department has banned visits to prisons by the public and family members for 30 days.
No visits will be allowed in the 107 facilities among them prison lines, borstal institutions, and youth corrective training institutions, better known as approved schools.
The measures followed a daily review of the prisons risk mitigation strategy by Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i and Correctional Services PS Zeinab Hussein.
The PS said the ban is precautionary and intended to minimise a prisoner’s face-to-face contact with the civilian population.
Zeinab said in a statement on Thursday that the injunction has also been extended to prisons staff visitors.
Regional prison commanders will conduct daily inspection of the correctional facilities and report their preparedness to the headquarters.
There are seven positive Covid-19 cases in the country with the response team led by Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe restating the need for thorough sanitation.
The PS said the production of soaps, detergents and sanitisers has been stepped up at the Athi River prison for a steady supply of the hand-washing materials.
Zeinab said they have set up isolation units at infirmaries in every region, with the prisons hospitals closed to the public.
“They will solely serve the prison population. We have dispatched a team of health specialists to join county diseases surveillance teams in the management of the infirmaries,” she said.
The department exuded confidence it has sufficient food, having increased its annual production four-folds since 2018.
“We are proud to report that our food production has quadrupled since 2018, which has reinforced our self-sufficiency. As such, we don’t foresee any shortages.”
For items to be sourced locally, the department applies strict protocol, including disinfecting vehicles ferrying such supplies.
“There are high hygiene standards that must be adhered to by all suppliers,” the PS said in line with measures advised by the emergency response committee.
Prisoners will also not be presented to the courts for the next two weeks as directed by the National Council on Administration of Justice.
The team, led by Chief Justice David Maraga, also scaled down major court operations.
This means prison numbers will remain constant for the said time since petty offences are being sorted out in police stations.
Maraga on Tuesday suspended mention of cases of those in remand for 30 days with court registries only accepting the filing of pleadings that are time-bound.
– mwaniki fm