Senior prison officers from the national headquarters have camped at the Wundanyi Main Prison in Taita Taveta County to investigate circumstances that led to the escape of eight remand prisoners on Saturday night.
Sources from within the prison said the investigations are focusing on officers who were on duty that night to determine whether they were involved in executing the escape.
An insider who requested to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals said, at the time of the incident which reportedly took place at 11:40pm, the officers on duty had gone to watch a football match that was being aired live on television.
The big match was a Spanish LaLiga game between Real Madrid and Real Valladolid. Real Madrid won 3-0 as star boy Kylian Mbappe bagged his first hat-trick at the team.
"It is the other inmates who informed them when they came back that some of their fellow remandees had escaped. They feared that they would be punished for not reporting," the source said.
"The fate of the officers will be known by today evening. The officers are being interrogated," the prison official said.
Initial investigations showed that the eight prisoners exploited a weakness in the prison's old infrastructure by cutting through the roof of their holding cell.
On Sunday, the Commissioner-General of Prisons Patrick Aranduh visited the facility.
On Monday, a team from the headquarters and the county in-charge of prisons Frank Opondo were locked in a crisis meeting for the better part of the day.
According to some residents of Wundanyi town, they were woken up by the blaring sirens from the Wundanyi Main Prison on Saturday night.
The resident narrated that it wasn't until the following day when they learned that the alarm was triggered by the escape of eight remand prisoners.
They said the sirens were followed by chaos as the prison officials and security agencies rushed to respond to the breach.
According to a resident Emmanuel Mwang'ombe, locals learned that eight prisoners had fled the prison by cutting through the roof of the remand room they were in.
"We did not know what was happening until the following day. We even thought it was a fire outbreak. We could not go there because it is a protected area," he said.
On Sunday, three of the eight escaped prisoners were recaptured at Godoma area in Mwatate Sub-County.
The Nation was reliably informed that the three have since been remanded at the Manyani Maximum Security Prison in Voi.
Confirming the arrest, Coast Region Commissioner Rhoda Onyancha said the capture of the three inmates was due to the swift and coordinated efforts of the security agencies in the county.
“These are people who committed very serious crimes such as defilement and gang rape and, therefore, very dangerous to the community. The security agents are working hard to find and re-arrest them as they wait for their destiny with the court,” said Ms Onyancha.
“We are asking members of the public to be on high alert and report to the nearest police station when they come across these prison escapees.”
The fact that they were able to breach the iron sheet roofing has raised serious questions about the security protocols in place at the facility.
Wundanyi Sub-County police commander Onesmus Kombe said that the recaptured inmates are being held as they await arraignment to face charges of escape from the facility.
"We urge everyone to be on high alert and report any information that may assist in the capture of the escapees," he said.
"Efforts to recapture the fugitives are ongoing, and law enforcement agencies are coordinating a widespread search operation. We urge residents and all citizens at large to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity to the police immediately.”
The eight escapees were facing different charges— including housebreaking, rape, causing grievous harm and sexual assault.
