Kenyan warden shares ‘open secret’ inmate stories from serving in 4 prisons

 

A Kenyan prison warden anonymously shared random bizarre stories regarding inmates they witnessed from serving in four prisons.

Though openly known by a section of Kenyans, these stories are considered open secrets because evidence of what inmates do is often kept under wraps from the public.

Using the moniker Affectionate-Fox3015, the warden took to Reddit, where they stunned Kenyans with their forthcoming answers during a question-and-answer segment session.

Nairobi News sampled some of the warden’s answers below.

“Prisoners mostly sneak in drugs through their an*s. I have seen a guy sneak in a fresh egg that way and it did not even crack. The guy arrived and laid the egg like a hen. I had to ask myself what country I was in. Some inmates can even insert a whole 500ml bottle. Five kabambe phones (small, cheap phones) can even be inserted in there,” began the warden.

They also told of how inmates conned an Officer in Charge of the Station of about Sh 200,000.

“Yes, they are the ones who send those “tuma kwa hii number” messages. There was a time they conned an OCS almost Sh 200k. When I was passing by, I heard them talk about that story. I then confiscated a phone from them, only for them to try and bribe me with Sh 20,000 because it was the phone with the money. Now, when PAYE becomes too much for you to pay, in that instance, you will just take the money and leave,” added the warden.

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The warden also revealed that some inmates had corrupted prison warders into making money by carrying out illegal activities on their behalf.

“Also, some contraband is brought in by prison officers. A kababambe phone worth Sh 1,000 on the street is sold for around 10 times that value in prison,” explained the warden.

The warden told another bizarre inmate story when asked about how they dealt with prisoners who swore innocence.

“Most inmates swear they are innocent. The disturbing part is when they confess they killed someone. Some guy comes in and says they were in a dare and cutting each other with pangas (machetes). He has the cutting to show. The other guy was not so lucky since he died. Almost sounds crazy, but it happened,” the warden revealed.

Speaking on female inmates who ended up conceiving while serving prison time, the warden assumed that some male wardens were probably chasing skirts while at work instead of carrying out their expected duties.

This is because conjugal visits are not allowed in Kenyan prisons, and this would be the only plausible reason for female inmates to get pregnant while in prison.

Should the warden responsible for the pregnancy be found, they are immediately fired because Prisons Act Cap 90 forbids relationships between wardens and inmates.

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In light of a question regarding the segregation of inmates based on the nature of the crime they committed, the warden revealed that there was no such thing in Kenyan prisons due to congestion and as much as they try to separate them, they would still interact during the day when they are let out for sun time.

“Sincerely, I know you expect a different answer, but I will give you the truth as is: They are treated like any other prisoner, at least by their fellow inmates. Mostly, they (child molesters and pedophiles) are the ones who form a majority of inmates. Given that they don’t walk with molester/pedophile written on the back of their clothes, nobody even knows they are that. As an officer, I will cut them some slack and not humiliate them. For God’s sake, they are already paying for what they did by just being here,” said the warden.

So far, only “lifers and condemned prisoners” are imprisoned separately. The warden then proceeded to tell of their scariest experience with an inmate.

“My (scariest) moment was when we were attacked during a random search. Everyone fled, and I was left alone in a crowd of around 300 prisoners. Luckily enough, the officers on the towers noticed the situation and fired several rounds to disperse them. Took a few months to come to terms,” revealed the warden.

The warden also revealed that their scariest moment was when they interacted with a serial killer charged in a Meru County court.   BY NAIROBI NEWS