CS Kindiki orders resumption of supervised family visits in prisons

Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki has directed the resumption of supervised family visits in all prisons and correctional facilities countrywide.

He said that the move will allow inmates to interact with their loved ones after the visits were stopped in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We are going to resume the family reunions and family visitation meetings in all our facilities including Naivasha Maximum Security Prison for both male and female inmates," CS Kindiki said while speaking at the Naivasha Maximum Prison on Wednesday.

The government plans to decongest prisons and other correctional facilities by 50 per cent through the Power of Mercy.

This will happen by facilitating virtual court sessions and remodelling the ICT infrastructure in prisons countrywide to enable expeditious conclusion of pending matters.

"I will also speak to the Attorney General so that the plan of Power of Mercy helps to decongest our prisons. I have also committed that we are going to decongest our prisons by 50 per cent and all categories of our inmates will be covered by that Programme of Mercy," added Kindiki.

The Power of Mercy Advisory Committee is a constitutional Committee established under Article 133(2) of the Constitution of Kenya and operationalises by the Power of Mercy Act, 2011 with its core mandate to advise the President on the exercise of the Power of Mercy.

Over 10,000 petitioners have benefited from the Power of Mercy programme which started in 2018.

It aims to receive and consider petitions by convicted criminal offenders, research and collaborate with other relevant organs and expeditiously render independent advice to the President on the exercise of the powers.

Kindiki also urged prison authorities to plan a proposal for the provision of computers to support them in their court sessions and paralegals.