Human Rights activist has called upon the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to intervene by investigating all prosecutors and pro bono lawyers.
This follows a massive outcry of unfair representation in courts from women inmates at the Eldoret GK prison.
According to Centre for Human Rights CEO Nick Omito it has been established through the inmates complains that pro bono lawyers allocated by the government to represent the inmates don't appear in courts and some even demand extra money from inmates.
“We have received complaints from female inmates that most of the lawyers allocated to them don’t appear in court, I call upon the DPP to intervene and help the inmates,” said Omito.
He spoke to the press at the Eldoret GK Women Prison on Friday.
“I also blame the police department for not doing proper investigations before arresting people since most of them have arrested people and accused them of offences they never committed,” added the Centre for Human Rights CEO.
Jackeline Chepkemei, Priscila Chepng'etich and Caroline Khalayi are some of the inmates who spoke saying they had never seen their lawyers in court and most of the times they appeared in court the hearing of their cases were postponed after the pro bono lawyers failed to appear in court.
Eunice Odhiambo, the officer-in-charge at the Eldoret GK prison said there is a need for civic education exercises to the public about children's laws because ignorance has landed many women in prison.
The sensitization was conducted by the center for human rights and mediation in conjunction with the Kenya National human rights organization under a program aimed at building capacity for persons under legal custody to enable them to understand the legal Aid ACT.
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