Inmates and the government are locked in a court row over low pay with the prisoners pushing for an increase. They accused the government of breaching their right not to be held in slavery and servitude.
The inmates also protested the delays in disbursement of the funds explaining that it inconvenienced their purchase of personal necessities.
They are paid their earning upon release but the others may spend two-thirds of their earnings while in prison.
Kenya Prisons Service standing orders provide that the earning rates shall be 20 cents for grade A (prisoners with exemplary conduct and are skilled), 15 cents for grade B (good conduct and semi-skilled), and 10 cents for grade C (prisoner not in grade A or B).
The Commissioner General of Prisons Isaya Osugo has condemned the move claiming that the inmates are not engaged in a form of employment where remuneration is expected to be fair.
The prison chief questioned why prisoners allege a violation of article 30 of the Constitution, which says a person should not be subjected to slavery, yet they are serving sentences following a conviction.
He added that prisoners are required to, under the law, offer labour.
“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 Commissioner General of Prisons stated in a court paper.
A ruling will be delivered on March 29.
High food prices and the rising number of inmates have been making it difficult for prisons to meet convicts’ dietary needs.
It’s normal for over 3,000 inmates to share a prison designed for only 800. Prisons hosted 80,404 inmates last year.
A dig up of history showed that the wage rates were last reviewed in in 1979.