Maranjau Open Prison

In 2005, Mr Karanja, the Commanding Officer at Maranjau Government of Kenya Prison, decided to purchase an Interlocking Soil Block Press in order to upgrade the Prison housing from mud houses to permanent buildings. Working together, the prisoners and the wardens have managed to erect this house, which is a great improvement on the previous structure.

We spoke to Mr Peter Mwangi, a carpenter and joiner at the Prison, and he was delighted with the results, saying, “The new building is cheaper than other methods of building. It was very easy to put up and for me the roofing was much easier because the walls were level and straight. Our mud houses were never level and this made roofing difficult. We have plans to build many more houses as we want to replace all the mud housing. We will all be much happier to live in new, modern houses.”