made of the same cotton material. This is the prisoner's garb year round, regardless of ‘weather. Prisoners are strictly forbidden to have underwear or shoes. According to the Prison Act, upon admittance to a prison, each prisoner is entitled toa new uniform. ‘A prisoner would be extremely lucky to find one in good shape. Most of the prisoners ‘wear tatters, infested with vermin and smelling of shit. Ics not unusual to see prisoners walking naked. Although each prisoner is entitled to two new blankets, a mattress, a towel, a pair of sandals, 2 toothbrush and toothpaste. Prisoners would have to be out of their ‘minds to even imagine having these basic necessities made available by the Prison Department. Such supplies are stolen in broad daylight by the prison staff. Since there are no beds or mattresses, prisoners must sleep on the dirty, cold cement floors. The lucky ones can wrap themselves in old blankes that smell of urine and shit and are filled with lice and bedbugs. Toilets have no dcors and they do not flush, Many overflow with maggots, dead flies and cockroaches. The bathrooms are communal and little more than open sewers. Toilet paper and soap are provided when the prison authorities choose to do so. [fa prisoner demands these essential items, he is reminded that he left his human dignity outside the prison gate, when he put on a prison uniform and exchanged hhis name for a number. ‘The Kenyan Prison Act, Section 99, entitles a prisoner to be visited once a ‘month by family, relatives and friends. However, that law is rarely adhered to. When allowed, a prisoner is given a five to seven minutes to talk with visitors through a wire ‘mesh window. Prior tothe visi, the visitors are psychologically harassed and intimidated and on many occasions, insulted and turned away without plausible explanation. Conjugal visits are not allowed. Kenyan prisoners are denied medical care. As a result, many die from untreated diseases. John MUngai Warlirl prisoner number 126/87 died on May 5, 1988 after ‘coughing constantly for more than twelve months. He was never examined by a doctor. Many times when he tried to see the Kamiti medic, he was dismissed as a malingerer: “Guard, this prisoner is bothering me,” the medic would say. “He is not sick. Take him back to his cell and teach him a lesson. Let him know that this is a prison; i is not his mama's backyard.” The same happened to Titus Adungosi (the former student leader of the University of Nairobi) who died on December 29, 1988 from internal bleeding. ‘Similarly, this author was suffering from Pterygium, duodenal ulcer, high blood pressure, constant diarrhea and chest pains and a deteriorating cental condition. His ‘many requests to be taken to hospital for treatment were met with hostility and sarcasm. It was the international community, particularly Amnesty International, the Committee {or the Release of Political in Kenya and P.E.N. International, which put pressure on the Kenyan authorities to provide the author with proper medical care. Conditions in the women’s prisons are always as brutal and dehumanizing as they are in the men’s prisons and are often worse. Women prisoners are forced to provide slave labor on the coffee, maize and tea plantations owned by the prisot department and government officials including the president, where they are beaten and constantly raped by the male prison staff. In Eldoret and Nakurs prisons more ‘than 79 women were raped in June 1988 alone! Most of the victims became pregnant. By conservative estimates, 75 percent of women prisoners in Kenya are raped before ‘they complete their jail terms. Rape is an offically sanctioned par of the physical and