Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji on Wednesday urged President Uhuru Kenyatta's administration to find an alternative way of dealing with petty offenders other than remanding them.
Speaking to journalists, Haji noted that there is a need for the law to be reformed to accommodate more ways of punishing the suspects besides having them in custody.
He further urged the State to look for alternatives to bonds and bails paid by the offenders.
[caption caption="File image of DPP Noordin Haji"]
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The DPP's call comes after Chief Justice David Maraga noted that the Judiciary is planning for necessary reforms intended to avoid unnecessary imprisonment of petty offenders.
Last month, the President of the Judiciary exclaimed that he would work with the government to decriminalise certain offences such as loitering.
Additionally, he stated that such offences are petty and ought not to warrant the offender a jail-term conviction.
Maraga announced: "Detention conditions are very inappropriate, especially to people living with disability, pregnant and nursing mothers and the elderly. Most prisons are congested, with prisoners being clamped together.
“There is a great need to urgently correct some of the embarrassing features within the justice system,” the CJ added.
Currently, there is a 34-member committee that is tasked to comprehensively review the whole criminal justice system and forward its recommendations before December.
The team will look into cover arrests, investigations, policing, prosecution, adjudication, sentencing, incarceration, aftercare and reentry.
[caption caption="File image of Chief Justice David Maraga"]
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