• Kituo Cha Sheria director Annette Mbogo says many inmates are wasting away in prison because of lack of legal knowledge.
• Mbogo said paralegals have ensured such inmates do not unnecessarily pay more than they deserve for their past actions.
Paralegals play a key role in promoting access to justice and should be formally recognised by the state, a legal aid organisation has suggested.
Kituo Cha Sheria director Annette Mbogo on Friday said many inmates are wasting away in prison because of lack of legal knowledge. He, however, added that paralegals have ensured such inmates do not unnecessarily pay more than they deserve for their past actions.
“The AG should give more power to the National Legal Aid Service. We need more funding for the National Legal Aid Service to be able to carry out its role under the Legal Aid Act,” Mbogo said.
Speaking at the office of Coast regional prisons commander Hamis Bugu, Mbogo said they have seen first-hand how paralegals save the lives of inmates. The lobby donated stationery, food and other items essential for paralegal work.
Kituo Cha Sheria will also donate computers purchased through the UNDP Amkeni Programme to the Shimo la Tewa prison.
Through ‘Njia za Haki’, Mbogo said they have trained 60 inmates and prison warders as paralegals since the programme started in August last year. Those trained have drafted more than 600 petitions, and around 200 people have been released as a result of their intervention.
“We had 23 of our paralegals released last year,” Mbogo said.
The Njia za Haki programme is a partnership with the UNDP, through funding from the EU. It has promoted access to justice for inmates at the Shimo la Tewa prison.
“We train them to have legal knowledge which they use to help themselves and fellow prisoners in their cases,” Mbogo said.
Mbogo said the Legal Aid Act specifically recognises paralegals as important players in the access-to-justice chain and this is seen through the Njia za Haki programme.
She said the accreditation rules should be finalised so paralegals are accredited to carry on with their work within the purview of the law.
“I’m not saying that they are not [doing their work under the purview of the law], but with accreditation, they receive recognition from the state and with that they can secure funding from the state,” Mbogo said.
A lot of the paralegals who are released from prisons find it difficult to integrate into their communities because of stigma, "possibly because they don’t have employment and they have been in prison".
"We request for more support from the government for inmates who are released so they can start their new life outside there,” Mbogo said.
Bugu said the partnership with Kituo Cha Sheria has empowered inmates since 2004.
“Previously, we used to have prison officers who would do appeals for them and teach them how to present themselves before court.
“The prisoners these days can do just the same wonderfully well. We thank Kituo Cha Sheria for that because they also provide support materially,” Bugu said.
Mombasa chief magistrate Edna Nyaloti, who is in charge of the criminal division, said access to justice is a constitutional right for a prisoner.
“But a prisoner cannot access justice if they do not have the capabilities to access justice,” she said.
Nyaloti said that in court they ensure indigent prisoners who cannot afford representation get the same from non-state actors like Kituo Cha Sheria, who help improve access to justice. She said the Judiciary also has pro bono services for prisoners who cannot afford representation.
However, some prisoners are better off in custody than outside because if released they are not guaranteed their right to life, she added.
“It is safer for them to stay in prison."
Bugu said they have successfully contained the spread of Covid-19 in prisons at the Coast through lockdowns. Selected prisons have been designated as quarantine centres.
“Every new admission, when they come to prison they are quarantined for 14 days then they are tested before they join the general population,” Bugu said.
Currently, one inmate is at a treatment centre, while 20 others are in quarantine. Some 39 recoveries have been recorded.
Kenya National Commission on Human Rights Coast regional officer Brenda Dosio said they are happy with the Prisons department for their conduct during the Covid-19 crisis in ensuring the safety of the inmates.
“Through the partnership with Kituo Cha Sheria, they have also ensured that no inmate’s rights are curtailed even during this challenging period,” Dosio said.
Mbogo also said the death penalty should be abolished. She asked legislators to review the Penal Code to conform to the Supreme Court decision to abolish the death penalty.
The Supreme Court on December 14, 2017, declared the mandatory death penalty unconstitutional.