The Kenya Prisons Service has responded to an expose by Citizen TV journalist Lulu Hassan on the illegal use of phones by prisoners at the Kamiti Maximum Security Prison.
The statement dated April 20, indicated that the expose labelled "Kamiti Call Centre" which aired on Sunday, had videos clips that were recorded in 2019.
Commissioner General of Prisons, Brig (Rtd) John Warioba called on the media to ensure that they air factual information when covering such stories.
Warioba stated that one of the culprits exposed in the investigative piece was David Tett but he had already been released from Kamiti in September 2021.
"We wish to clarify that one David Tett, a former prisoner, who was referred to in the clip aired on 18th April 2022 as a mastermind of the vice, was transferred from Kamiti Maximum Security Prison to Kamiti Medium Security Prison on 22nd July 2021 from where he was eventually released on 9th September 2021," the statement read in part.
The statement, however, did not explain why the notorious inmate was released early - given that he was serving a 15-year sentence which was effected in September 2021.
Commissioner Warioba stated that the prisons department was keen to ensure prisoners are tamed and the con games that were exposed in the Citizen TV investigative piece are dealt with.
"Kamiti Maximum Security Prison has undertaken serious measures to enhance the security and safety of the inmates, officers and members of the public. The Kamiti of today is different from the one that was portrayed in the story of April 18, 2022.
"The department wishes to assure the general public of our commitment to ensuring that Correctional facilities live to their purpose of reforming offenders," the statement continued.
Tett was accused of mastering the art of the con game and even using a foreign accent to allegedly dupe unsuspecting victims. In the expose, Hassan claimed that Tett forges a relationship with his client on the phone and plays along until he starts soliciting money.
Hassan showed that the racket had scammed millions of shillings from unsuspecting Kenyans using a special type of mobile phone.
The phone has a sound that can transform the speaker's voice to imitate that of a man, woman or child and some of the convicts are good at faking accents.
The scammers often dupe their victims that they should send money to secure a job, lured them in by a potential love interest, or lied that they have won a lottery and must send some cash to facilitate the transactions.
