A new Bill being proposed by lawmakers in Kenya will soon see relatives of law breakers paying for the accommodation and meals of those sent to prisons.
The new law is supposed to reduce the cost of rehabilitation and punishment, after it emerged that prisons have become extremely expensive to run with little or no value for money.
The Commissioner General of Prisons in Kenya has said that the new move will see prisoners who fail to pay for their upkeep held in isolation, or forced to do hard labour to pay for their upkeep. “In a country like Kenya where everyone is a thief Kenya, has to take practical measures…we cannot be feeding and housing vagrants”.
The recommendations will also see prisoners do more productive work because they need value for money. The Commissioner General faulted the current arrangement where a prisoner is tasked with grazing cows, and two prison wardens have to watch over him as he watches over cows.
The bill proposes to hand an admission form to everyone sentenced to serve prison term. In addition to this, a two weeks break will be given to allow the prisoner to carry out his reporting items.
