PROBATION SAVES THE DAY

KIAMBU COUNTY, 27 September 2012                            KNA               By Elizabeth Biwott

A maximum of three (3) is the number of years an offender in a Kiambu court room sentenced to a jail term qualifies to go for rehabilitation in the probation office, Senior Probation Officer Mrs. Jennifer Wangari Kanyuira has revealed.

Talking to KNA in her office, Mrs. Kanyuira said that the probation office which operates directly with the judiciary plays a vital role in aiding the judiciary to administer justice to the public in record time. Mrs. Kanyuira explained that the offenders who are taken on probation comprised mostly of the women and children because they are fragile in this context. She added that for men who have been sentenced to fewer years in jail because of crimes like being in possession of stolen goods, causing public disturbance, drinking in wee hours etc are also subject to external punishment.

She further said that once an offender has been sent on probation the judiciary hands over mandate of supervision to the probation office which will then exercise outside supervision. During the supervision, Mrs. Kanyuira said that the probation office would then write four different reports in form of recommendations to the judiciary for them to decide whether to release the offenders or not. The four reports include Pre-bail, Decongestion, Probation and Aftercare. For the Aftercare programmes she explained that the probation office would write a proposal to the community to accept the long term ex-prisoners, the young juvenile offenders and the people from Mathare hospital as members of the society.

The senior probation officer pointed out that among the programmes the offenders are engaged in include the community service order (CSO), this she said is the unpaid work done by offenders who are supervised by the probation officers. She disclosed that this usually targets the adults who participate in cleaning compounds, trimming of fences, cutting of grass and cleaning offices. For the juveniles aged between 15-17 they are taken to Borstal schools which are only two in Kenya in Shimo la Tewa and shikusha in Kakamega. For those aged between 17-20 are taken to Kamiti Youth Corrective Training Centre (KYCTC).

Mrs. Kanyuira expressed her joy asserting that there was a girl’s correctional school being put up in Kamiti. She also observed that those offenders who during or after probation commit offence were revoked to court and told to serve their respective jail sentence.

Speaking during the inaugural meeting of the Court Users Committee in Kiambu, Mrs. Charity Chebii Oluoch, and the principal magistrate in Kiambu Law Courts reiterated that the probation office had really helped the judiciary in the case management time, despite shortage of staff in courts.

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