Samburu warden slapped with 3-year jail term for aiding prison break
Rogue prison warden Zacheus Tirop has been found guilty of aiding the escape of prisoners from Maralal GK Prison in Samburu county.
Maralal court on Tuesday, December 24, 2023, found Tirop guilty of several counts including aiding convicts to escape prison cells and forgery of judicial documents contrary to section 351 of the penal code.
The court heard that the rogue prison warden solicited a bribe of Ksh9,830 from a convict who was then serving a three-month sentence to forge a court fine receipt that was used to aid the escape of inmates.
Tirop was also charged with aiding other prisoners to escape from the prison facility on diverse dates after receiving bribes ranging from Ksh10,000 and Ksh50,000.
The rogue warden denied all the charges against him when he was first arraigned in the same court in 2018 but on Tuesday, January 24, 2023, the court ruled against him.
Maralal Senior Principal Magistrate John Tamar noted that the prosecution had proved that Tirop colluded with convicts to escape from Maralal GK prison.
The magistrate handed the rogue officer a three-year jail term with an alternative of a Ksh970,000 fine.
Tirop's sentencing comes shortly after a prison detainee who escaped from the Embu Main prison just days ago.
The detainee is said to have escaped when he was in the prison's garden together with other inmates for their daily activities.
Sources within the prison say that the prisoner escaped unnoticed by prison wardens who were supervising them. He reportedly fled and disappeared in a thicket.
The escape was blamed on the laxity of the wardens and their failure to keep a direct eye on the detainees.
