Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has called for enhanced collaboration between the government and the private sector in the execution of infrastructural projects that require heavy financing.
Mudavadi said leveraging on public-private partnerships (PPP) helps ease pressure on government financing plans by allowing the private sector to inject finance and technical resources into such projects.
He urged the State Department for Correctional Services to consider embracing private-sector collaboration in reducing infrastructure capacity challenges being faced in the country’s custodial facilities.
“In other countries, there is a public-private partnership arrangement where custodial facilities or prisons are developed by the private sector on a PPP basis. What is required is meeting the standards,” he said.
Mudavadi made the remarks during the launch of public consultation on the development of the legal and policy framework for correctional services.
The PCS concurred that at no given time will the government be in a position to finance all public infrastructural projects given its budgetary constraints.
“I believe it is a window that we have never exploited in this country and it is being done in other countries. In Europe you can be walking by a prison without knowing that it is a prison,” he pointed out.
He said the government is set to overhaul the legal framework for correctional services, to align it with the Constitution and the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda.
“I am pleased to note that the proposals on the Bill (Correctional Services Bill) we are discussing here will amend 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,” he said.
Mudavadi said work is in progress to ensure Kenya adopts a robust legal framework that complies with universally accepted international standards.
“Kenya being a signatory to various international statutes, we are mandated to comply with obligations related to the fair and just management of offenders,” he added.
Mudavadi said Kenya is taking a bold step to transform the correction services sector to contribute to a secure world for current and future generations.
“The new framework will be able to anchor key acceptable legislation that responds to the challenges we have experienced in managing correctional services,” he said.
Mudavadi urged partners and other stakeholders to embrace the consultations and support the technical committee to develop a universally accepted document.
