• The Power of Mercy is a prerogative power conferred upon the President by the Constitution.
• The Power of Mercy Advisory Committee is a constitutional committee established under Article 133(2) of the Constitution.
Image: GEORGE OWITI
Digitization and automation of power of mercy services are meant to enhance transparency and accountability in the processes, Power of Mercy Advisory Committee representative David Macharia has said.
Macharia said it also promotes participation in mercy processes as well as providing feedback to members of the public and stakeholders on status of application petitions.
The Power of Mercy is a prerogative power conferred upon the President by the Constitution.
It entails granting pardon to reformed and rehabilitated convicted criminal offenders deserving early release.
“We are gathered here on a sensitisation forum on digital platform on electronic power of mercy management information system that has digitised and automated our processes end to end right from application, processing by committee members, stakeholders’ inputs, to the recommendations levels,” Macharia said.
Macharia addressed the press in Machakos county on Monday.
The Power of Mercy Advisory Committee is a constitutional committee established under Article 133(2) of the Constitution of Kenya and operationalised by the Power of Mercy Act, 2011 with its core mandate to advise His Excellency the President on the exercise of the power of mercy.
Article 133 of the Constitution provides that on petition of any person, the president may exercise the power of mercy on convicted criminal offenders.
“So, we are training our pardon prison officers to assist inmates in the application processes, and also the probation officers, DCI officers, other stakeholders in the criminal justice environment as well as community leaders," Macharia said.
The pardon officers according to Power of Mercy Act of 2011 are gazetted officers by Correctional Services CS.
They act as liaison persons between the Power of Mercy Advisory Committee and the penal institutions and assist inmates to apply for mercy, prepare reports and update the petitioners’ information.
He said the digital platform was open to members of the public and stakeholders who can apply for mercy on behalf of the convicted criminal offenders as well as those processing the petition process.
“The digital platform is available on EPMIS and onboarded in digital platform in line with the presidential directive that all government services must be digitised and on boarded on e-Citizen,” Macharia said.
He said one of the system’s advantages was that members of the public were able to apply for power of mercy on phone.
“You just need to open your phone. Members of the public can also be able to track the petition application process on their phones.”
He said stakeholders were able to upload the process report online.
"We have digitised all records and migrated manual records to digital platform. So, access of those records are also easy. Manual processes in the registry are no longer there,” Macharia said.
He said the system also manages the entire system flow right from the application, processing by the committee members to the point where recommendations are done.
He said any stakeholder was able to track status of any petition.
Macharia said the digital platform was as a result of a recommendation by a taskforce that was established by the Attorney General in 2020 to review all laws relating to the power of mercy.
“That was one of the key recommendations of the taskforce and in collaboration with the ICT Authority, we have already done it. We have already developed the system and on boarded,” Macharia said.