Neville Albert Omondi, VoicesofAfrica mobile reporter in Nairobi, Kenya
The Kamiti Maximum Security Prison is one of the largest and the oldest prisons in Kenya. It is located in Kiambu District. It has been home to political prisoners like Koigi Wa Mwere and The Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
The prison was made to accommodate 1400 prisoners but now accommodates thrice that number. With that enormous population, Kamiti has no reliable water supply. Inmates depend on water from Nairobi Water Company formerly Nairobi City Council Water Department. That water is insufficient and the recent water rationing has only made it worse.
The facility also has the premises of its staff and their families. They all depend on the same water supply.
In the year 2007, the government through its Constituency Development Fund Kity CDF came to their rescue by funding the construction of an electrical borehole. That was good news to the facility and apart from easing the water problem, it will also reduce the cost of acquiring the water itself.
The project is now about 16 months old and yet it has never been completed despite the allocation of full funding. The facility’s inhabitants are still waiting and hoping that this is not another white elephant.
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