State embarks on process to review prison service laws
By Mercy.Mwai, June 4, 2024
The State Department for Correctional services is in the process of reviewing all its laws to collapse them into one for better management of prisons.
Correctional Service Principal secretary Salome Beacco revealed that a technical committee had been formed to go through the various pieces of legislations, standing orders, standard operating procedures and guidelines, prisons act cap 90, Borstal institutions act cap 92, probation of offenders act Cap 64, Community Services Act Cap 93 as well as legal notices establishing farms and institutions.
She said that the new law will be able to define how Power of Mercy will be given to offenders as well as provide comprehensive legal, and policy framework support.
She said: “ We have already created a technical team to deal with this matter. We will be collapsing all the acts into one legal instrument that is progressive. This is part of our reform agenda.”
In her statement, Beacco also announced that they are planning to modernize and revitalize various prisons industries in order to enable inmates to work and earn an income.
She revealed plans to modernise 108 workshops by acquiring modern tools and equipment, construct additional modern workshops, as well as revamp various bakeries within the prisons.
Those targeted include Kisumu Women Prisons, Shimo la Tewa Prison in Mombasa, Meru Women Prisons, King’ong’o Maximum Prison in Nyeri as well as Eldoret GK Prisons.
Already, she disclosed that they have partnered with Chandaria which has enabled them to revamp and re-open some of the workshops such as the Chandaria Meru Women Prisons Workshops and the Langata Chandaria Maximum Women Prison Workshop.