This archive report was first published on 10 June 2020.
On June 9, 2020, Commissioner-General of Prisons Wycliffe Ogalo inspected the Nakuru G. K. Prison in Nakuru County, dispelling fears of a coronavirus outbreak in jails.
According to Ogalo, the 31 reported Covid-19 cases were remand prisoners who were referred to quarantine centers after being taken in by the court. The 42 contacts were also new remand prisoners in quarantine with the two prisoners who tested positive.
"An impression has been created that prisoners have been infected by the virus. I want to clarify that the alleged 31 cases are new remandees confined in quarantine facilities," Ogalo stated.
He added that the two positive cases reported at Industrial Area Remand Prison were remand prisoners, not inmates serving sentences in prison. All inmates are secured, he emphasized.
Prison authorities nationwide have set up several quarantine facilities to ensure those taken in remand are quarantined for a fortnight and subjected to test. After testing is done, those who test positive are handed over to the Ministry of Health.
"We have however ensured that those in prison regularly communicate with their families through mobile phones," Ogalo said.
Prison facilities have also started to decongest prisoners to ensure the 1.5-meter rule is achieved. Some of the inmates' sentences have been reduced, bond terms varied, and petty reformed offenders released from the prisons as directed by Chief Justice David Maraga.
