The government has announced plans to establish legal aid centres across all 47 counties to bring legal services closer to the people, including assistance with applications for presidential pardons.
Speaking on Tuesday during the launch of the National Legal Aid Service in Kibra, Nairobi, Attorney General Dorcas Oduor said her office will set up legal desks to help prisoners and their families submit applications to the Power of Mercy Advisory Committee (POMAC).
According to the AG, the move is part of the government’s efforts to enhance access to justice and support its agenda to decongest prisons across the country.
“The Power of Mercy has gone digital, but many people are not using it. There are numerous prisoners who do not know how to apply to the president for mercy. We will create a desk for the Power of Mercy across these clinics,” Oduor said.
She added, “We will station officers at the desks. If you have someone eligible, you just come, and they will guide you on how to apply.”
The initiative aims to simplify the process of seeking clemency, ensuring that more prisoners and their families can access the presidential pardon system efficiently.
At the same time, Oduor said the desks will also serve as points of legal guidance for other court-related matters, further promoting the government’s goal of expanding legal support nationwide.
In a bid to promote more advancements in the presidential power of mercy, the Cabinet, in July this year, gave the green light to the proposed Power of Mercy Bill, 2025, a bill that, if passed, will allow more inmates in Kenyan prisons to be released early.
According to the Cabinet in its then resolution, the bill aims to modernise the presidential pardon, which will introduce a new framework for pardons and engineer a system that will allow the president to secure the early release of more fully rehabilitated inmates.
Meanwhile, since January, President William Ruto has secured the release of more than 4,500 prisoners, including petty offenders who serve shorter sentences and prisoners who were sentenced to longer sentences, through official pardons.
The Head of Public Service, Felix Koskei, in April, revealed that the president had granted constitutional release to 56 Kenyans and one foreigner, who was a citizen of the East African Community (EAC) and was granted a conditional and repatriation release.
Additionally, the Head of State also extended amnesty to all petty offenders sentenced to six months or less and offenders serving sentences longer than six months whose remaining terms are six months or less.
