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    "id": 590034,
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    "content": "now conducted remotely through prisons. There are instances where criminals have escaped, committed crimes and gone back to prison. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, if we are going to deal with the criminal justice system properly from the time a complaint is launched to the time there is a conviction or an acquittal, we must deal with the way people are treated and as Sen. Elachi said, the way they are treated in police cells. Sen. (Prof.) Anyang’-Nyong’o you may not be aware that there are people who live in our police cells. It is like a residence. There is a place in Kilimani Police Station referred to as either Kileleshwa or Kasarani, depending on which side you sleep. I am happy that I have been put in this Committee because I have the experience of how these people are treated. What comes out after this is that, they become worse human beings than before imprisonment. I suggest that we go a little deeper in this. I agree with Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale that we have enough land to have prisons in counties. The proposal to have high courts and other courts in all counties should similarly be followed by prisons. It does not make sense to jail someone in Makindu and take him to Kakamega. What is the point of jailing him in Nairobi and taking him to Shimo la Tewa? What exactly is achieved by that transportation of prisoners? When these people are being transported to courts, the men and women are confined together in the motor vehicles. It is a tragedy. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, a lot has been said but more needs to be done. Importantly, the persons who take care of these prisoners also have rights. Those rights have not been taken care of. The police who guard us all live in squalor. Sen. Adan, as we propose that we deal with prisoners, we are going to propose that we deal with the security sector so that the reforms on how the prison warders are treated should apply uniformly because they are trained in a similar fashion. When we have problems like the post-election violence in Naivasha, who do you think came out of the prisons to assist in quelling the violence? It was the prison warders. Does anybody remember them? Nobody remembers that if the Naivasha prison warders did not take quick action, the Luos and Luhyas in Naivasha would have lost their lives in a manner that I do not want to say in public. Therefore, we must recognise them. When we recognise police officers, we do not recognise this cadre of prison warders who are also dealing with the people who you do not want to deal with. For instance, the criminals that Sen. G.G. Kariuki once jailed; there is a human being who is dealing with them and the things they do day and night. That person should be given an element of recognition because it is possible that even prison warders are suffering from frustration of having to deal with people who we consider outcast yet in my criminal practice I know that there are many people who are in crime, not because they wanted to but because of poverty. They want to make a coin here and there, drive a car like their leader, buy a phone like they have seen so that they go into crime without the intention of going into it. We must provide an avenue of rehabilitating this human being who is in prison for circumstances beyond their control. Some of them who I was representing have confessed to me that they cannot do without crime because this was an avenue for them to make one or two shillings. In fact, they were happy to be in prison because they did not The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}