The government will spend Sh3 billion to improve correctional facilities and the welfare of prisoners and prison staff across the country, Interior CS Kithure Kindiki has said.
He said on Monday Sh1 billion will be spent on the acquisition of modern equipment that will enable inmates to receive skills that will in turn help them produce high quality products.
The CS said the government is determined to restore the dignity of inmates by providing decent uniforms, mattresses and beds.
“We are determined to entrench reforms that our prisons so desperately require to rescue them from their dilapidated state. We also prioritise the welfare of inmates and prison staff and in a bid to restore their dignity we will ensure that every inmate has two pairs of uniforms. We will also provide our prison staff with extra uniforms,” Kindiki said.
Speaking at the Mwea prison in Kirinyaga county, the CS further said that through a partnership with the private sector, the government will seek to implement the 'One Prisoner, One bed, One mattress programme' in bid to provide decent living conditions for inmates.
The government will spend the remaining Sh2 billion to buy modern farming equipment to mechanise all prison farms.
In Mwea prisons, Kindiki said the government had since established a number of amenities such as a store and a new rice mill.
To ease pressure and enhance service delivery within prisons, the CS said that the government will seek to decongest prisons by 50 per cent.
He said his ministry will engage the Judiciary and other stakeholders in the administration of justice to decongest prisons through fast-tracking of pending cases, imposing non-custodial sentences on petty offenders and the use of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.
The CS said prisons are overpopulated, with some holding almost double the required capacity of inmates.
“We must decongest our prisons because what we are having is disastrous. Prisons are not hell. They are institutions to correct and reform law breakers before they are integrated back into their communities. Therefore, the rights of prisoners should not be infringed,” he said.
Kindiki stated the importance of streamlining the laws governing the operations of the prison and police departments and commended the President for forming a special task force under the chairmanship of former Chief Justice David Maraga to look into their affairs.
He said the mode of operations currently used by the departments has been overtaken by events.
The CS said the Maraga-led team will be completing its task this month, after which they will forward their recommendations to the President.
He assured that the government will fully implement the recommendation made in order to improve the institution’s service delivery.