Inmates at the Thika Women’s Prison have been advised to maintain a good behaviour if they want to earn a chance for an early release.
Thika Chief Magistrate Stephen Mbugi on Wednesday, during a forum that involved inmates, judiciary, human rights representatives and other government representatives told the inmates to maintain discipline as they served their sentences.
“Kindly serve your sentences with discipline to your supervisors and follow their simple instructions. As I have said, if you maintain discipline you stand a chance a chance of being freed early,” Mbugi said.
The Magistrate said that the court has been lenient with offenders by giving them affordable bonds and according them opportunity to appeal if not pleased with the first ruling.
Police officers who addressed the prisoners urged them to utilize the time they are in prison to reflect on their lives and resolve to be good citizens upon release. They further advised them to seek assistance from law enforcers when disturbed by officers rather than take the law into their hands, which landed some of them in prison.
“Abide by the set rules and regulations and above all focus on your maker for spiritual nourishment,' said Bishop Isaac Gatimu of the Holy Church Ministris in Thika who was also in attendance.
The inmates earlier expressed grievances and requested that well-behaved prisoners be put on probation. They appealed for continued assistance after leaving prison to prevent them backsliding.
“We are requesting the judiciary to come up with a system that could offer us funding or loans to start businesses since getting capital after leaving prison is hard,” one of the inmates said
Mbugi and his team contributed foodstuff, clothing and sanitary towels to the female inmates as ‘a show of love and care’ where saying that the inmates deserved the care and love from the court.
The prison has tailoring and saloon departments where skilled personnel from outside the prison are hired daily to train inmates. It has houses 103 long sentence inmates.