Inmates Salary in Kenya: Inmates in Kenya have sued to have their daily pay of 20 cents increased. The inmates also want their payments paid without delays. The inmates who include Aloise Onyango Otieno, Nicholas Ouma Obonyo, and Samuel Ng’ondo claim that the Commissioner General of Prisons has failed to pay them despite receiving allocations from the National Treasury.
This is the first attempt to review the amount of money that prisoners in Kenya get paid. Their salaries were last reviewed in 1979. The inmates further say that the low payments are akin to subjecting them to slavery and servitude. However, the commissioner has objected to this, saying that the prisoners are not engaged in any form of employment where remuneration is expected to be fair.
“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 states in court papers. “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.”
Currently, Section 5 of the Kenya Prisons Service standing orders provides 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).
A ruling for the case will be delivered on March 29.