This archive report was first published on 20 September 2019.
On September 20, 2019, a group of senators toured Kitui prison and secured the release of 15 women who were held over failure to pay fines as low as KSh 5,000.
Senators Johnson Sakaja (Nairobi) and Mutula Kilonzo Jr (Makueni) visited the prison and met with prisoners who shared their heartbreaking predicaments with the legislators.
According to Senator Sakaja, most of the remandees have been following up on their cases since 2016 but the wheels of justice were moving so slowly, denying them freedom.
"Mothers with children imprisoned for failing to pay fines as low as KSh 5,000. I’m glad we were able to secure the release of 15 of them but Chief Justice David Maraga and Director of Public Prosecution must answer to the state of delays in the justice system," he said.
Senator Sakaja suggested that some of the prisoners should be converted into non-custodial sentences, as it was illogical to keep someone in prison for months over failure to pay a KSh 5,000 fine when it costs much more to keep them in prison.
The senators were accompanied by their colleagues Moses Wetangula (Bungoma) and others from both Senate Security and Legal Affairs Committees.
