Nine inmates on Friday walked out to freedom from Lang’ata Women Maximum Security Prison after a city-based NGO cleared fines that had held them behind bars.
Among the nine was an eight-month-old baby whose mother was serving a jail term.
The Phoebe Asiyo Centre settled the outstanding court fines, clearing the way for their release pending court and prison procedures.
Phoebe Asiyo Centre CEO Eric Hyde said the move is aimed at giving families an opportunity for reunification with their families and a fresh start in life.
“The release for this great women from here is meant to commemorate Mama Phoebe’s early service in Kenya’s prison system that shaped her commitment to justice, discipline, compassion and human dignity. We urge them to be law-abiding citizens after they get out of here,” Hyde said.
Phoebe Asiyo is a former Karachuonyo MP and among Kenya’s first woman lawmakers. She died on July 16 last year in North Carolina, USA, at the age of 92.
She was a pioneering politician, diplomat and women’s rights icon and a towering trailblazer who broke numerous gender barriers in leadership, public service and civil society.
She served as Kenya’s first African female senior superintendent of prisons, introducing major rehabilitation reforms for female inmates.
Hyde said Mama Asiyo’s family legacy continues to live whenever dignity is restored and hope is renewed.
“As a family, they believe Asiyo’s legacy must live through lives touched and opportunities created not only in photographs or books,” he said.
During the event, the Phoebe Asiyo Centre team presented personal welfare items to the inmates and donated a range of playing and learning materials for the children’s library corner.
The contributions were a practical expression of dignity, care, compassion and hope, reaffirming that the inmates and their children are seen, valued and not forgotten.
The initiative underscored the NGO’s commitment to supporting vulnerable families and creating an environment where every individual can find hope, dignity and a sense of belonging.
About 700 inmates at the facility benefited from the donation made.
Fairbain Ombeva, the officer-in-charge, at the commended Phoebe Asiyo Centre for such a move.
Ombeva who is actively involved in championing inmate rehabilitation, vocational training programmes, and social reintegration initiatives within the Kenya Prison Service described Lang’ata prison as “a palace of correction”.
