There was joy at Shimo la Tewa maximum prison following the pardoning of petty offenders by President Uhuru Kenyatta during this year’s Mashujaa Day celebrations.
Free inmates could not hide their happiness to rejoin their families after serving part of their term in jail.
Speaking to The Star, Kathengi Mwambegu, who was among 631 inmates from 17 prisons in the Coast region, thanked President Uhuru Kenyatta for freeing them.
The 67-year-old man shed tears as he walked out of the prison.
Mwambegu had served two years and nine months after being sentenced to jail for three years for murder.
He is said to have been taken behind bars for killing his son in law over a land dispute in Kaloleni.
"He had attacked me with a panga and cut me twice at my home. I took a piece of wood and hit him in the head. Unfortunately he died," he told the Star.
Albanas Ndolo, 48, is another man released from the same prison following the command from the President.
He has been booked for stealing 500 bags of sugar that were on transit to Uganda.
"I am not going back to be a loader anymore. I will use my welding skills to make the life of my people better," said Ndolo.