Prisoners in Naivasha GK prison have asked to be allowed to vote for all elective posts in the next general election.
The inmates, who voted only for the president, said they would petition Parliament and courts to be allowed to fully participate in elections.
As per the law, inmates vote only for the President following a High Court ruling entered in 2011.
This came as 197 of the 399 registered inmates voted for the presidential candidate in the exercise that was marred by low voter turnout.
The officer in charge of the prison Hassan Tari said the majority of the inmates had been transferred to other prisons before the elections.
He termed the exercise as smooth, adding that the IEBC officials arrived a day before and no hiccups had been recorded.
“The inmates are only voting for the president as per the law and all those who are eligible have been allowed to vote,” he said.
One of the inmates Daniel Muthama termed as discriminatory the move to block inmates from voting for other candidate yet they were Kenyans.
He said the rehabilitation system in the prison had reformed their lives, adding that they deserved a second chance in life.
“It’s really sad that we are only voting for the president and we are requesting that in future we be allowed to also vote for all our leaders,” he said.
Another inmate Robert Kipgetich while lauding the smooth exercise called on the electorate to maintain peace during and after the elections.
“We are really happy for getting this chance to exercise our rights and we hope in the next election we shall also vote for even MPs and the MCAs,” he said.
This was echoed by another inmate John Kenga who said the voting exercise was part of the reforms in prison meant to reform them.
-Edited by SKanyara
