80 Ethiopian Nationals who are serving a 1 year jail term in Isiolo
GK Prison for being in the country illegally have gone on a hunger
strike.
The prisoners allege that a group of 65 other Ethiopians who were
released earlier and expatriated back to Ethiopia communicated to them
that their families back home are suffering and dying.
One of the prisoners who spoke on behalf of the group says that they
will not eat as long as the fate of their families back home remains
unknown to them especially since they do not know where they are after
they were arrested near Isiolo.
The officer in charge of Isiolo GK Prison, Ibrahim Hassan confirmed
the incident saying that they have refused to eat in order to compel the
Kenyan Government to expatriate them to their home country.
Hassan added that the prisoners are struggling to air their
grievances clearly as most of them do speak in either Swahili or
English.
He, however, urged the National Government to expatriate all
foreigners arrested in Kenya as they are costly to feed and maintain
especially considering the congestion of prisons in the country.
The Ethiopians were allegedly duped by conmen to pay Ksh 400,000 so
that they may be taken to South Africa for greener pastures. Their jail
term is to end on April next year.
By Too Jared
citizen tv
