Naivasha Maximum Security Prison is the third-largest maximum prison in Kenya with 24-hour surveillance located in Nakuru County.
As one of the country’s maximum-security prisons, Naivasha GK Lice Prison has seen more than its fair share of successful prison escapes.
Its most notorious record to date was the escape of 28 prisoners on April 21, 2004. Two dozen plus prisoners simply vanished from the prison.
On January 29, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officers arrested two prison officers in connection with the murder of Simon Nduro- a former inmate at the Naivasha Prison.
Sergeant Dennis Wandati Masibo and Constable Obadiah Meriti Lansika alias Masai who both work at the Naivasha Maximum prison will be charged with the murder of the convict contrary to section 203 as read with section 204 of the penal code.
According to an autopsy report, the prisoner had multiple bruises on his body with blunt force trauma being the cause of death
On February 19, 2020, a man (Joseph Wanyoike Kinyanjui), who had just been convicted of murder, died in Murang’a GK Prison. The post-mortem report showed he was strangled.
After his death a prison warder reported to Murang’a Police Station that an inmate had died at the prison’s dispensary where he was receiving treatment for ”alcohol withdrawal syndrome”.
According to the OB number 24/9/2/2020, Kinyanjui, aged 35, had no physical injuries save for traces of blood around the nasal area.
His is the story of countless others whose condemnation to what are essentially supposed to be correctional facilities, only ends up damaging them even further.
Official figures for deaths in prisons are scarce, but in October 1995 a government minister stated that more than 800 prisoners had died in the first nine months of the year.
In 1997 at least 630 prisoners reportedly died, the majority from infectious diseases. Information about the conditions in Kenyan prisons is limited because access to prisons is denied or severely restricted.
Notably, about 50% of Kenya’s prisoners are pre-trial detainees or those held in remand as they await trial – people legally considered innocent.