Following a cholera outbreak in the prison, two inmates from Thika Main prison were admitted to Thika Level V hospital, according to Karani Limanye, the prison director for Kiambu County.
The prison’s administration revealed to reporters on April 17 that the first occurrence of the disease was reported on April 8, 2023, and that ten prisoners contracted the illness the next day.
38 additional prisoners contracted the watery illness, but it has since been confined; as of yesterday, only 10 cases had been noted.
“All of them are stable although two of them are admitted at Thika level 5 hospital; the others are with us here but they have been isolated,” he said.
After presenting the institution with a water tank, Thika Town Member of Parliament Alice Ng’ang’a urged the wardens to uphold strict hygiene standards both inside and outside the prison to prevent the sickness from spreading.
The congressman also encouraged the Kiambu county administration to educate the populace about the risks of cholera and ways to stop its spread.
“It is all about cleanliness and hygiene. I am advising those living in and of prison if there’s an outbreak of cholera, it means our hygiene has gone down instead of improving so just the same thing we used to do during covid-19, we should improve on our hygiene,” she noted. The main prison in Thika houses both male and female inmates.