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Kamiti inmate launches book


Chief Justice Willy Mutunga and the Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko last Friday launched the Judicial Service Week at Kamiti Maximum Security Prison. The week is aimed at offsetting the backlog of appeals.

Dr Mutunga said prisons were congested by more than 94 per cent due to delayed cases. Seventy judges in 20 High Court stations have been charged with the responsibility of dealing with the appeals. They hope to clear about 5,000 of them.

Mr Tobiko said institutional capacity constraints, corruption, incompetence and inefficiency were the reasons for congestion. Dr Mutunga added that if effected properly, the programme will save taxpayers Sh223 million.

Prison reforms

The colourful ceremony also included the launch of a book by an inmate Harun Thomas Nyandoro who is serving life sentence for robbery with violence and being found in possession of a pistol.

Nyandoro’s book Blind Justice is a personal account of his struggle to get justice after he was incarcerated 16 years ago for a crime he insists he did not commit.

During the launch of the book, the Chief Justice commended prison authorities for the reforms that have taken place in correctional institutions to the point of inmates being allowed to write books.