Govt pledges to construct houses for prison officers

The government has set aside funds for the construction of prison officers’ houses in the country, Correctional Services Permanent Secretary Micah Powon has said.

Speaking during the New Year’s lunch with inmates and the officers at Kapenguria Prisons, Powon said that the move was aimed at improving staff morale across the correctional facilities.

The PS was keen to note that most of the prison warders in the country live in shanties something he says has lowered their self-esteem and service delivery.

While acknowledging the work done by the officers in rehabilitating the inmates, Powon affirmed the government’s commitment to ensure that they all have medical insurance.

He said the scheme to cater for their medical expenses is already running and will cover all prison officers.

The PS also urged Kenyans to make use of other ways in solving disputes to avoid overcrowding the prisons.

“Petty cases that can be solved locally by elders or other forms of tribunals should be solved at home to avoid overcrowding our prisons,” he said.

He thanked the Judiciary for committing petty offenders to community service saying it has greatly helped in reducing congestion.

“The Judiciary is also helping us in creating space at the facilities…not all offenders are send to jail,” he said.

Also present was the officer in charge of Kapenguria Prison Agrey Maloba who pointed out that most of the houses used by inmates are leaking since they were set up during the colonial time.

“The government should also consider renovating our jails since they were set up during the colonial period,” he said.

Last year the president released over 7,000 inmates in a move to decongest the facilities.