RIGHTS-KENYA: Inmates May Soon be Allowed to Vote

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Joyce Mulama

NAIROBI, Oct 20 2003 (IPS) - Rights organisations are demanding that Kenya’s draft constitution be adopted to allow inmates to vote in 2007.

The draft constitution, which is being discussed by 629 delegates, contains a clause that suggests voting rights of prisoners. Like in most African countries, Kenyan prisoners do not vote. "They are treated as a condemned lot and sidelined from democratic activities," according to Mwangi Waititu of Litigation Fund Against Torture (LIFAT), a human rights body that helps survivors of torture. Kenya’s existing laws do not spell out whether inmates can vote or not. Former government, that ruled Kenya from 1963 to 2002, had disfranchised inmates of their rights to cast ballots. Now campaigners want the rights of prisoners, including voting, to be recognised by the new constitution. "There is no negotiating or debating about the issue. If you are a citizen of Kenya and convicted of a crime, which is not related to the electoral process, nobody has the power to take away your right, including the right to vote. It is a fundamental right of every adult of sound mind," remarks Kang’ethe Mungai, of Release Political Prisoners, a Nairobi-based pressure group. Campaigners said time has come for civic education to be introduced in all prison facilities to sensitise inmates and wardens about the importance of voting. Already the programmes have begun, targeting prison staff who will supervise voting of inmates. At a recent training session for prison officials organised by the Kenya National Human Rights Commission (KNHRC) and Institute of Education in Democracy (IED), it emerged that prisons could serve as polling stations with officers assisting election officials. The two organisations are liaising with the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK), which is expected to spell out the mode of conducting polls in prison facilities, right from registration to the casting of ballots. ECK Commissioner, Jack Tumwa said: "We want as many Kenyans as possible to vote – prisoners, people working in foreign countries and even patients in hospitals. With the legal backing of parliament, the inmates should be able to vote soon". Alice Nderitu, of the Kenya National Human Rights Commission, warns that the right to vote will come with its own package. Rules will be in place for inmates, with reprimands for unbecoming behaviour. Kenya’s prison population ranges from 30,000 to 40,000 inmates. ‘Kamiti Maximum Prison’, located in the capital Nairobi, ‘Shimo la Tewa Prison’ in the coastal city of Mombasa, and ‘Kodiaga Prison’ in western Kenya, have each an average of 2,000 to 3,000 inmates. Campaigners, who organised last month’s voting exercise in Nakuru, about 190 kilometres from Nairobi, said the participation of prisoners in a democratic process would help integrate them in communities. Politicians are also lobbying the government to intensify efforts of ensuring that every prison has a department to avail voting information to inmates. Kenya’s prison population, said one politician, is "tempting" for any potential parliamentary candidate, in terms of votes. "Together, with other human rights organisations, we are trying to develop systems to have prisoners access this information. Already, we are dialoguing with the Commissioner of Prisons and the Attorney General’s office," former Member of Parliament, Njeru Gathangu, told IPS in an interview. He is also an official of ‘Citizens for Justice’, a pressure group, whose members have been imprisoned for political reasons. "It is our role to ensure that prison walls do not separate prisoners from the ballot because we have been there, and know how wrong it is to be deprived of basic democratic rights," he said. Campaigners have welcomed Gathangu’s remarks. "The rights of inmates be respected. It goes hand-in-hand with democratic policies of the (ruling) NARC (National Rainbow Coalition) government, whose top agenda is protecting human rights," says Mustafa Hassouna, a Nairobi-based regional commentator. The government, which came to power after December 2002’s elections pledged to protect rights of all its citizens, including that of prisoners. If Kenya allows its prisoners to vote, it will be the second African country – after South Africa – to do so.