Implementation of Nelson Mandela Rules in Penal Institutions: A Case Study of Prisons in Nyeri County

Incarceration was introduced in the human society both as a punishment mechanism for offenders and as a mechanism to protect the society. Overtime, societies became sensitized on the concern that extreme punishment measures such as executions that were being used could only be equated to ‘judicial murder’; therefore, informing the need for correctional justice reforms. Consequently, with modernization, the contemporary international community has formulated standards such as the Nelson Mandela Rules that came as a coveted remedy to the dire prison conditions. With UN member states required to adopt these set of international rules, Kenya has also joined the bandwagon to actualize the implementation of the Mandela Rules. In its own form of penal modernism, Kenya has opted to utilize the open door policy, a strategy that sees Kenya Prisons Service (KPS) incorporate civil society organizations (CSOs) in the strive to enhance inmates’ welfare. By doing so, KPS aligns with the UN proposition for its member states to engage CSOs in the formulation of rehabilitation and reintegration strategies, thereby, gradually actualize the implementation of the Mandela Rules in practice. Therefore, through the lenses of the transformative worldview approach, this study was grounded on the theory of change to incorporate a mixed research design to conduct research in Prisons in Nyeri County, Kenya. The study findings indicate KPS has made significant strides to implement the Nelson Mandela Rules. This has been actualized through the KPS-CSO partnership, with the open door policy giving CSOs a leeway to act as monitoring bodies that evaluate the upholding of human rights in prisons as well as support KPS rehabilitation and reintegration strides. However, to fully implement the Nelson Mandela Rules, the study recommends more budget allocation for KPS by the government of Kenya amongst other recommendations.