What is the daily salary of prisoners in Kenya?
Did you know inmates in Kenya are paid a daily salary? Apart from receiving an education and learning skills, inmates receive daily wages as graded by the Prisons Department. The allocation by the Treasury has been a subject of a court case after three inmates, led by Aloise Onyango Otieno, Nicholas Ouma Obonyo, and Samuel Ng’ondo, accused commissioner-general of prisons for failing to pay them.
When inmates pay was last reviewed
Inmates pay was last reviewed in 1979. The incarcerated lot pay was pegged at Sh0.20 per day for the highest paid prisoners. The grades are as below:
Grade A-20 cents
These are prisoners who are skilled and are of exemplary conducts
Grade B-15 cents
Semi skilled and of good conduct
Grade C-10 cents
Those not categorized in grade A or B
Responding to demands for more pay by inmates, the commissioner general of prisons said: “As it is, prisons earning rates are a provision of the law and the commissioner does not have the mandate to amend, revise or vary the scheme as provided,” the prison boss stated in court papers.
He went on to state that prisoners are, under law, required to offer labour.
“The objective of prison labour is to equip convicted prisoners with relevant skills and knowledge through training to enable them to reintegrate well into society upon release,” said the commissioner.
When are prisoners paid?
Inmates in grade A and B receive their salary at the end of their prison term. Under the same Prison Rule 1963, prisoners in grade C are allowed to spend upto two thirds of their wages while being incarcerated.
Here below is a complete list of maximum security prisons in Kenya
Kamiti Maximum Security Prison-Nairobi
Shimo la Tewa Maximum Security Prison-Mombasa
Naivasha Maximum Security Prison-Nakuru
Kodiaga Maximum Security Prison-Kisumu
Manyani Maximum Security Prison-Taita Taveta
Langata Women Maximum Security Prison-Nairobi
Kingongo Maximum Security Prison-Nyeri
Nairobi Remand and Allocation Maximum Security Prison-Nairobi
Kibos Maximum Security Prison-Kisumu
