The profile of recidivists in Kenya: The case of prisoners at Nairobi county prison institutions

• Citation: (2020) 33 SACJ 707
• Date: 04 March 2021
• Author: Omboto, J.O.
• Pages: 707-729
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.47348/SACJ/v33/i3a10
• Published date: 04 March 2021

The prole of recidivists in Kenya:

The case of prisoners at Nairobi

county prison institutions

JOHN ONYANGO OMBOTO,* GIDRAPH G WAIRIRE**

AND MIKE CHEPKONG’A***

ABSTRACT

Recidivists are ch ronic, multiple or prolic offenders. T hey continue

to commit crimes reg ardless of punishme nt. Recidivism is a worldwide

problem which has persisted over the years. A Un iversity of Nairobi study

conducted in Nairobi Count y, Kenya on the linkage between punishment and

recidivism which involved recidivi st prisoners at Kam iti Maximum Sec urity

Prison and Langata Pr ison; male and female institutions respe ctively, sought

to, among others, analyse the broad cha racteristics of rec idivists in the t wo

institutions. T he study purposively selected a sa mple of 167 participants,

and collected data by use of quest ionnaires, focus g roup discussions and

key informant inter views. Both quantitat ive and qualitative techniq ues

were utilised in dat a analysis. The study es tablished that the majority of the

recidivists are ma les, and young adults or individuals in middle age who are

either illiterate or sem iliterate. They are also not in ma rital relationships, and

are members of the lower social cla sses among other charact eristics. Thi s

paper presents a literatu re review on challenges facing prison institut ions in

Kenya, causes and control strategies of re cidivism among prisoners, general

socio-demograph ic and personality ch aracteristics o f recidivists, and the

study ndings on the pro le of the recidivists i n Kenya.

1 Introduction

Recidivism which is a return to cr ime after a convict has been punished

for the rst time, is a global social problem whose rate seems to be

unacceptably high and on the increase. For instance, in Singapore,

the number of former prisoners who returned to prison in 2012

increased by 27.5% compared to 23.3% in 2010.1 In Britain, the level

* PhD (Nairobi), Lecture r Criminolog y and Securit y Studies, Egerto n University,

Kenya.

** BSW (Osmania) MA ( Tata Institute of Soci al Sciences) PhD (Pune), Associate

Professor, Departme nt of Sociology and Social Work, University of Nai robi.

***

BA MA PhD (Nairobi), Lect urer, Departme nt of Sociology and Soc ial Work,

University of Nairobi.

1 A Hussain ‘Priso ns service sees h ighest recidivis m rate in nine years’

23 January 2015, available at https://www.s traitstimes.com/singapore/cour ts-crime/

prison-service-sees-highest-recidivism-rate- in-nine-years.

707

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(2020) 33 SACJ 707

© Juta and Company (Pty) Ltd

of re-offending was as high as 70% in some pr ison institutions.2 T he

problem is also immense in A frica. For example, in Nigeria, in the

years 2010 and 2011, more than 50% of the 25 380 offenders who

were on trial were recidivists3, while in Uganda, the recidivism rate

among community service offenders in Kampala, rose from 9% to 12%

between 2004 and 2010.4 In Kenya, though empirical evidence from

the 1960s established an accumulative recidivism rate of 19.08% for

the years 1966 to 1970,5 a study by the government in the year 2014

which indicated that the number of recidivists in prisons increased

by 76.9% from 12 949 in the year 2012 to 22 910 in 2013,6 conrms

that the problem in the country is on the increase. Given these grim

statistics on the problem both locally and internationally, the study on

the linkage between punishment and recidivism ought to determine

the prole of the recidivists as a rst step in establishing control

mechanisms.

2 Challenges facing prison institutions in Kenya

There are various challenges that ca n impede the achievement of prison

functions in any prison system in the world. In Kenya, studies have

established that these challenges are numerous. First and foremost,

conditions in prison instit utions in the country are unfavourable for

rehabilitation of pr isoners. These institution s are overpopulated and

characterised by harsh and un hygienic conditions, insufcient medical

care, homosexuality, abuse of tobacco and drugs, and work without

pay.7 In these kinds of situations, prison institutions i n the country

cannot achieve their mandate since the prisoners are often rebellious

as a result of the pathetic living conditions given that they are aware

that it is the obligation of the government to provide acceptable

living conditions for them. These situations provoke disquiet among

prisoners.

Inmate indiscipline is characterised by ghts and fracas bet ween the

inmates themselves, and the inmates and prison ofcers, so breaking

of prison rules and prison r iots are therefore common in Kenyan prison

2 United Nations Ofce o n Drugs and Crime Introductor y Handbook on Prevention of

Recidivism and Soci al Re-integration of Offender s (201 2) 7.

3 KK Osayi ‘Socio -cultur al factors affec ting re-integr ation of discharge d prisoners in

Anambra Stat e, South East Nigeria’ (2015) 5 Internat’l J So c Sci & Hum’y 39–40.

4 A Ssebugwawo Community Se rvice and Recidiv ism: A Study of the Legal and

Institutional Frame Work in K ampala District LLM (Mak arere) (2010) 64–65.

5 E Muga Crime and Delin quency in Kenya (1975) 2–3.

6 Ministr y of Devolution and Plann ing Economic Surve y: Highlights (2014) 252,

available at https://www.knbs.or.ke/ ?wpdmpro=economic-survey-2014.

7 JO Omboto ‘The cha llenges facing rehabil itation of prisoner s in Kenya and the

mitigation strateg ies’ (2013) 2 Internat’l J Res Soc Sci 39.

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