State sets digital platform to enhance service delivery for convicts seeking Presidential pardon

Nyeri

Wednesday August 2, 2023

KNA by Samuel Maina

The Government through the Power of Mercy Advisory Committee (POMAC) is leveraging the digital platform as one way of enhancing faster delivery of justice to convicts seeking Presidential Amnesty.

When addressing the media on the sidelines of a stakeholders’ forum in the justice delivery system, Macharia Njine from POMAC said the new Electronic Petition Management Information System (e-PMIS) will be a game-changer in access to fairness.

He also disclosed that the new online platform will demand transparency and accountability from all key players involved, since the information logged in the database can always be revisited.

“The Power of Mercy Advisory Committee has developed a digital platform, where stakeholders and members of the public can make a petition application and also track the process of the application online,” Njiinesaid.

“This can be done from either a mobile phone, laptop or any gadget. The electronic Petition Management Information System automates the petition taken from end to end. The committee members will also be able to process the petition online, do the petition papers hearing and petition interviews online,” he added.

Njiine said the system is also able to generate all manner of reports and this is meant to enhance transparency, accountability on the petition process and also give feedback to the inmates and also the stakeholders.

Among those targeted in the training include officers from the Kenya Prison Service, Probation Department and After care Services, Judiciary, religious leaders, Interior Ministry and Persons with Disabilities.

Njine also took the participants through a step-by-step process on how one can access the e-PMIS platform using their mobile phones.

He said the sensitization meetings are currently being undertaken in all the devolved areas, where counties have been clustered into 15 groups in order to deal with logistical issues.

“We are training the stakeholders in all 47 counties but we have clustered them into 15 groups. Today we are sensitizing the pardoned officers and probation officers from Nyandarua, Nyeri and Kirinyaga counties. We have also invited other stakeholders’ community representatives, civil society, youth groups and church leaders,” he said.

According to Njine, other benefits from the new system include the fact any member of the public can log into the online portal and seek the status of application of a relative without having to travel to Nairobi.

 He said once someone has successfully logged into the platform, the response is then generated on a real time basis and at no cost. POMAC has so far received at least 1,745 applications since the launch of the platform early in March.

Section 133(2) of the Constitution gives the Head of State the exclusive mandate (with input from POMAC) to pardon a convicted person under certain conditions.

Under these powers, the President may grant free or conditional pardon to the convict, postpone the carrying out of the punishment for a specified period of time or even substitute a less severe form of punishment or even remit all or part of a punishment.

However, for eligibility, a convict must have served at least five years in prison, while those serving life in jail must have served a third of their sentence. A petition should also not have an ongoing case in court at the time of applying for consideration.

Njine noted that since its launch by the Attorney General Justin Muturi early this year-PMIS has lessened work for the Committee after it did away with tedious paperwork and cumbersome physical visits to far flung areas in home visits in order to verify inmates' records.

“The way we used to do this manually was very tedious because the petition had to emanate from the Pardon Officers from the various correctional facilities and be manually delivered to the Power of Mercy Committee offices for processing,” he said.

“The committee members had to visit each of the and every correctional facility physically. Now it will be very easy. Once the application petition is done, it will automatically get to a database. The Pardon Officers are also able to complete this petition application, upload prison reports or any other document. And once it is uploaded from the correctional facilities, we are able to see it in our system,” he added.

Last month, President Dr. William Ruto pardoned more than 5,000 convicts under the Power of Mercy Act through a gazette notice dated July 19 2022.

Among those pardoned during the clemency included former Kenya Medical Research Institute Director Dr. Davy Koech who had been jailed for six years after being convicted of several criminal counts including illegally obtaining Sh18.5 million meant for research work.

Courtesy ; K. N. A