My Life in Prison- John Kiriamiti

My rating: 4/5

A former Kenyan criminal's encounters during the post-colonial era

After various unsuccessful attempts to escape prison; faking insanity, attacking warders, and even trying to commit suicide, Jack Zollo decides that enough is enough. Though full of hatred, pain and and regrets, adopts a positive attitude towards his life and also tries to change the lives of his counterparts. 


Now, during the process of "rehabilitation", things go haywire. Tribalism and hatred thrives among the inmates and the warders because of poor prison administration under Sergeant Kagi. The institution turns into a massacre zone where death is nothing new. The existence of a cannibal within makes it even worse. 

Zollo is ready to handle whatever cometh his way- as long as his best inmate friend and comforter, GG, is by 
his side. 


Through this true story, the author explores the influence of Kenya’s political tensions in the 1970s on prison environments. Readers are taken directly to the shoes of prisoners. More importantly, one gets to learn that the socio-dynamics surrounding prisoners are not very far from things that exist in the outside world; except for the fact that prison situation is more condensed and intense. 

Apart from warning criminals and prospective criminals against their ways, the writer expresses his 
dissatisfaction in the way correction facilities are run Kenya. The harsh mistreatment at Naivasha Maximum 
Security Prison, he says, only makes a criminal tougher and more dangerous. He also educates us, the public, on how we can contribute towards helping those who 
have dipped themselves into the crime pit: "I know what they need: Love and forgiveness from their 
fellow men." 

This book is definitely worth a read.