The State Department for Correctional Services has launched a public participation drive on the development of legal and policy frameworks for correctional facilities.
The consultations, which will continue over the next one month, will seek to consolidate stakeholders’ views on the proposed Correctional Services Bill and policy aimed at reviewing and consolidating all laws related to correctional services and offender management.
The Bill will amend existing Acts such as the Probation of Offenders Act Cap 64 and Community Service Orders Act, Cap 93 and repeal the Prisons Act Cap 90 and the Borstal Institutions Act Cap 92.
The proposals to be subjected to public participation include rights and obligations of offenders, duties and responsibilities of prison and probation officers, their welfare programmes, management of both custodial and non-custodial offenders, aftercare and resettlement, and internal complaints mechanism, among others.
Acting Interior CS Musalia Mudavadi said the stakeholder input will help in the resolution of issues such as congestion and poor living conditions of both offenders and staff.
He said the reform agenda was timely as it will align the correctional legal framework to the constitution and the Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda.
“This process therefore marks a new dawn in the government’s commitment to overhaul the legal framework for correctional services to align it with the constitution and the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda,” Mudavadi said.
The Prime Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs was speaking at the launch of the public hearing exercise.
Speaking at the same forum, State Department for Correctional Services PS Dr Salome Muhia-Beacco congratulated the technical committee that was appointed to develop the legal framework.
She said the State Department for Correctional Services sits at the core of national security and the wider criminal justice sector as it is the government agency responsible for coordinating the implementation of correctional policy and programmes.
“The State Department contributes to community safety through humane containment of offenders and by ensuring that the offenders are rehabilitated, reformed and reintegrated back into the society,” she said.
