Interior CS Fred Matiang’i has revealed that the government will release 5,000 petty offenders in the coming months in an effort to decongest prisons.
Speaking on Thursday, the CS stated that the government does not have the resources to keep the petty offenders in prison.
Matiang’i said that petty offenders like traffic violators were being kept in prison due to a small fine of Sh600.
“We don’t have the resources to keep the number of offenders that we have. Some of them we are keeping because of a Ksh.600 fine for a traffic offence! We are keeping some matatu violators who parked on a yellow line. Are we serious?” Matiang’i wondered.
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The CS spoke during the launch of the training program for newly-recruited probation officers at the Kenya School of Government.
“If I have to be precise my dear friends is that we are here for the re-integration of offenders into our society. That’s what we are here for,” he said.
He added that second-time, third-time and fourth-time offenders were an indication that the after-care work for the offenders was not successful.
Matiang’i said that the exercise will begin in May. The current number of prisoners at correctional facilities in the country stands at 54,438.
