NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 6 –At least 50 per cent of prisoners in Kenya have been inoculated against Coronavirus (COVID-19), officials said Wednesday.
Dominik Stillhart, the Director of Operations at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said they partnered with the government to ensure more prisoners are vaccinated to avert a potential health crisis.
Stillhart, who was speaking during a visit of the ICRC delegation and the Kenya Red Cross (KRCS) at the Kenya Prisons Headquarters, said that the number of prisoners vaccinated in the country was highly encouraging adding that it would enable relatives of prisoners to visit them in prison.
“Today’s meeting is to take stock of the relationships that we are engaged in and what we can do to improve it further. What is encouraging is that at least half of prisoners in Kenya have been vaccinated. This is important because it will provide the prisoners with an opportunity to have family visits in prisons,” he said.
The ICRC official pointed out that Kamiti Maximum Security Prison, the country’s largest was leading with over 80 percent of prisoners vaccinated.
He assured that the ICRC will continue to partner with Kenya to improve the lives of prisoners and promote their dignity.
The Commissioner General of Prisons Wycliffe Ogallo, who chaired the meeting, said that the decision to support prisons against COVID-19 threats followed a meeting between the senior leadership of the Kenya Prisons service, ICRC and KRCS on March 18, 2020.
Ogallo said that the ICRC and KRCS sourced for funds and directly purchased building materials which was used to renovate the sanitary facilities that had been identified as the greatest challenge in efforts to improve basic hygiene standards to ward off the virus.
He added that they also supported quarantine centers in the COVID-19 containment efforts
“This was followed up with a targeted support towards 50 priority quarantine areas with building materials and technical advice. In addition, 1,600 mattresses and materials for fabrication of 800 bunk beds were also supplied to KPS for the designated quarantine facilities,” he said.
The Prisons boss further said that they procured 500 ventilators and installed them in 47 priority prisons to improve on ventilation in prisons and reduce risks of airborne disease transmissions.
Ogallo stated that their partners have also provide them with communication equipment to facilitate communication between prisoners and their loves ones during the pandemic period.
“To restore family links, our valuable partners ICRC/KRCS availed prepaid mobile phones to assist inmates keep in contact with their families in 128 prisons countrywide,” Ogallo said.
The Deputy Commissioner General of prisons, Florence Omundi urged for mental support of prisoners saying the virus had taken a toll on prisoners.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected the mental health of prisoners across the country and I appeal to all our partners to prioritize the issue,” she said.
On September 28, the Government launched a 5-day mass COVID-19 vaccination exercise for inmates and prison staff at the Naivasha Prison.
The launch was presided over by Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i and his Health counterpart Mutahi Kagwe who announced that prison visitations will resume once most of the inmates are vaccinated.
“We have more than enough doses for this purpose. The Ministry of Health has availed more than 100,000 doses, and our plan is to ensure the prison population is protected, not only as a matter of government policy but also because it is a human right,” Matiang’i said.
Matiang’i pointed out that the prisons industry has recorded over 91 percent recoveries of COVID-19 patients since the outbreak of the pandemic.
He noted that Since May 2020, 9,622 prisoners and staff tested positive for the virus, while 32 of them had succumbed.
