Latest News

APP's 10 year Birthday: Interview with Brenda Simpson

As APP is turning 10 this month, we thought it would be a great time to catch up with her!

Release: Rahab Nyawira

On the 15th of September 2017, Rahab Nyawira, one of APP’s paralegals was released from Lang’ata Women’s Prison after six years behind bars.

World Health Day: Coping with Depression in Prison

Depression: Let’s Talk! This is the theme for World Health Day this year which is commemorated on 7th April. At least once, prisoners will experience depression at different levels of severity. In line with the theme for this year’s World Health Day, some of the beneficiaries used these initiatives as a platform to talk about their life in prison and how these initiatives have helped them cope with depression.

Michael Irungu: a story of loss and gain

Michael Irungu’s perspectives could not have been better. Where half of Kenya’s population live below the poverty line, being born into a wealthy family has its perks. After finishing primary school, Michael had the chance to visit Alliance High School, one of the prestigious secondary schools in Kenya. Despite this, Michael would never gain the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education from this nor from another high school. Bad company forces Michael to lose his way.

World Poetry Day

World Poetry Day is a time to appreciate and support poets and poetry around the world.Yearly, it is held on March 21 and is an initiative of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

APP meets with Ban Ki-moon at Strathmore University, Kenya

On 15th February 2017, we had the privilege of meeting the former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, at a conference held at Strathmore University where he was due to deliver a keynote speech later that afternoon.

I made 44 friends in Kenya’s prisons and they taught me more than I taught them

When I arrived in Nairobi on New Year’s Eve in 2015, I didn’t know what to expect. A city I had never visited before or had any familiarity to was going to be my home for a year. Its people, unpredictable weather, public transportation and food were all very foreign to me. All I knew was that I had come to teach law in Kenya’s prisons. This was a bit much for my family to process who were in denial of my endeavours until the night they bade me farewell at the airport.

APP in Rebel Education

Last summer, Al Jazeera started filming Rebel Education, a six-part documentary series looking at innovative learning models that are challenging the dominant ideas of education - particularly within challenging environments.We're really excited that episode 5 will feature African Prisons Project...

Holding the chains of others, he broke his own free

On the morning of 25 October 2016 Pete Ouko was released from Kamiti Prison in Nairobi where he has spent the past 18 years of his life. Pete’s dedication to his prison community, and his desire to make an impact on the world in spite of where he found himself,ultimately won him his freedom.

Fighting for the rights of mothers with postpartum depression.

Rose, like many mothers across the world, experienced depression. With a lack of medical care, she was treated unfairly by the law. Thanks to our work, she is reunited with her daughter.

From death row to presidential palaces. One woman’s incredible fight for justice.

Having graduated with a law degree while incarcerated, Susan now travels the world campaigning against the death sentence.

“My 13-year imprisonment was a setup. They never wanted us to get married.”

Despite having the paperwork to prove Emily’s age and his innocence, Simon was convicted of aggravated defilement. No court would hear his appeal, so Simon spent 13 years in prison for a crime he, and Emily, says he didn’t commit. 

Punitive sentencing for petty offences; vestiges of colonial times.

In East Africa young people are persistently caught up in drug trafficking, loitering and pickpocketing charges, resulting in long periods in prison. Here Draconian laws still apply, yet to be reviewed for the 21st Century. So laws often criminalise and marginalise the people with least in society.

The law: Enforcing it, breaking it, studying it. One man's journey

When he used to work as a police officer, Gilbert would take people to prison with little thought about fair trials or sentencing. Until he found himself in conflict with the law he once administered. 

What's the impact of a university degree, if you still have many years left in prison?

Degrees mean extra responsibilities. Four students and graduates in Kenya and Uganda have been promoted to the highly trusted position of 'trusteeship'.

Reconciliation of self and community

Amateur chef Pepe Ivan Matovu recalls how he found hope, healing and restoration in one of Uganda’s most populous prisons.

Adapting to the pandemic: Reconnecting people in prisons with their loved ones.

For people in prison, visits from family used to offer a moment of reassurance. Connection with the outside world. But during the Covid-19 pandemic, visitations are paused. Isolating many from those they love. Until recently. We’ve worked to repurpose our technology and reconnect families in Kenya.

“You are successful when you remember that somewhere, someone gave you a gift.”

Sentenced to death for robbery, Joyce tried not to let her sentence define her. While in prison, she found a new love for making clothes.