A former convict at Kamiti Maximum Prison was on Sunday, August 15, featured on 60 Minutes, reputed as America's most famous television show currently hosted by Anderson Cooper.
Morris Kaberia appeared on this how for his commendable work in helping inmates access justice through an organisation known as Justice Defenders. It is a passion also inspired by his own experience in the broken Kenyan justice system.
Kaberia was a police officer until 2005 when the tables turned and he was arrested on charges of robbery with violence.
He disclosed to Cooper that he spent eight years in pre-trial detention before appearing in court in 2013. In court, Morris claimed that he had been set up because he did not bribe a senior officer.
Despite his innocence, the judge found him guilty of armed robbery and sentenced him to death by hanging.
Little did he imagine he would ever get justice, let alone be featured in America's most famous TV show.
"When the judge sentenced me to death, to suffer death by hanging, I just saw blackness everywhere," Kaberia recalled on 60 Minutes.
However, while serving his prison sentence at Kamiti, Kaberia's life changed when he signed up for a law degree programme offered by Justice Defenders, an organization started by British lawyer Alexander Mclein.
The non-profit organization offers legal training to inmates who in turn help their fellows get a fair hearing in court. The organization also helps prisoners get law degrees.
Inmates begin with a three-week training as a paralegal. In the training, inmates are taught about bail, court procedures and rules of evidence. Trained paralegals prepare petitions and write appeals challenging convictions and sentences of inmates.
In 2012 Justice Defenders partnered with the University of London in a three-year correspondence course after which Kaberia signed up for.
Inmates were required to sit an entrance exam to qualify for the programme and provide evidence of helping other inmates while in prison.
The ex-con appealed his death penalty conviction in court. To his surprise, he got more than he bargained for since the judge acquitted him of all charges.
"I felt like I did not hear her right. So I asked her, 'What?'," Kaberia explained.
Even as a free man, Kaberia went back to prison as a trainer for the Justice Defenders. He was part of the team of Justice defenders that successfully challenged the constitutionality of the mandatory death sentence.
The law was changed and thousands of death row inmates were legible for resentencing.
In 2019, 18 inmates, former prisoners and guards graduated with a degree in law.
Through the programme, 4300 inmates have been acquitted and released while 21000 inmates secured a fair hearing.
Justice Defenders spends up to Ksh200 million ($2 million) on its programme, an amount it receives entirely from donations.
