By SIMON NDONGA, NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 21 – More petty offenders are set to be released on Friday after President Uhuru Kenyatta pardoned 7,000 inmates who were about to finish their jail terms.
The first batch of prisoners was freed from the Nairobi West Prison late Thursday and more are expected to walk to freedom on Friday.
President Kenyatta said he was freeing the inmates “to make room for corrupt individuals in the prisons.”
Under the Power of Mercy Act, any person may, subject to the Constitution and the Act petition the President through the Advisory Committee on the Power of Mercy.
The petition would not be admissible where the person for whose benefit it is made is on probation or serving a suspended sentence or an application for any judicial remedy is pending in court.
Once it receives an application for mercy, the advisory committee will determine the admissibility of the petition by calling for evidence, conducting interviews and investigations, receiving and reviewing the necessary reports from government agencies.
They then make appropriate recommendations to the President in accordance with the Constitution.