Presumed innocent, treated as guilty: The forgotten crisis of remand centres in Kenya
by admin on | 2025-06-02 12:26:45 Last Updated by admin on 2025-06-04 19:27:57
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In Kenya, remand centres meant to temporarily hold individuals awaiting trial have become sites of prolonged suffering, legal neglect and systemic injustice. This paper interrogates the contradiction between the legal principle of presumption of innocence and the harsh realities endured by remandees, many of whom face worse conditions than convicted prisoners. Drawing on firsthand accounts, legal audits, and human rights standards, the paper exposes how poverty, weak legal safeguards, and bureaucratic inertia have turned pretrial detention into a de facto punishment. Though bail is often granted, courts fail to enforce it as the norm, and many remain detained even when they pose no threat to society or the trial process. Minor offences attract custodial remand, and systemic delays entrench legal limbo. Far from being exceptional, such injustice has become routine. Beyond highlighting the crisis, the paper proposes bold reforms centered on dignity, legal accountability, and structural change to restore the presumption of innocence from a hollow ideal to a lived reality. In so doing, it argues that true justice cannot exist where freedom is lost before guilt is proven.
Introduction
Remand centres are intended to serve as temporary holding facilities for individuals awaiting trial, people who, in law and in principle, are still presumed innocent. The Kenyan legal framework, grounded in Article 50(2)(a)1 of the Constitution, upholds the right to be presumed innocent... read more
