Remarks · 24 April 2023
APRIL 24th 2023
Good Morning 1. I am delighted to preside over this pass-out parade and to join the Prisons Service Training College community in witnessing the well-deserved graduation of 222 cadet officers, who have successfully completed 13 months of rigorous professional training.
It is particularly encouraging to see that 84 of the cadet officers on parade are female and that 27 are serving officers. Clearly, the Service continues to open up opportunities for education and training without discrimination and I urge the leadership of the institution to encourage enrolment by young women in greater numbers. Congratulations!
Correctional services are a vital function of our penal and national security framework. They are tasked with the custody and rehabilitation of offenders in a manner that guarantees that both the public as well as the inmates enjoy their rights, dignity, explore opportunities and aspirations lawfully, safely and peacefully.
It is my hope that the service has now embraced correctional best practices and aligned its policies, procedures and standards with the Constitution and our development agenda.
The shift in the correctional services paradigm from punishment and retribution to rehabilitation and correction has opened up novel possibilities with important implications for our development agenda.
In particular, the rehabilitation and correction framework focuses on reform, re-direction as well as the empowerment of prisoners for effective social participation. To reduce a prisoner’s likelihood of returning to antisocial conduct and increase their capacity for gainful activity, correctional services now impart knowledge, skills and training in various arts and craft.
I have considered the various fields in which the service trains prisoners and noted with great satisfaction that they align with the government’s commitments under the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda.
Under agriculture and food security agenda, we intend to feed the nation and drastically enhance our agro-industrial output. Many correctional institutions have huge tracts of land that should be put to full use and join the government in fulfilling the food sufficiency pledge. These institutions have duly been instructed to enhance productivity and increase incomes.
Under our affordable housing commitment, we have set out to create millions of jobs throughout the building industry, construction projects, extraction and preparation of building materials as well as the fabrication and installation of fixtures, fittings and other accessories, among other activities.
Under our micro-, small and medium-size enterprises pillar, we have embarked on the financial, capacity and other forms of empowerment for entrepreneurs to innovate, incubate and curate business ideas into the next generation and to profitably engage in enterprise in various sectors at different scales. The Hustler Fund makes affordable funding available to support these enterprises, reduces barriers to accessing funding and deepens financial inclusion.
I am encouraged, therefore, to note that the Prisons Service has placed emphasis in educating and training prisoners in various aspects of agriculture, including irrigation and mechanised farming. I am also happy to see the magnificent handicraft and other items produced by skilled prisoners under the auspices of the Prisons Enterprises.
As we take concerted and robust measures to combat climate change through the restoration of the national forest cover, I take this opportunity to commend the State Department for Correctional Services which has planted 443,025 trees so far in prisons institutions across the country. This impressive number excludes 2,010 trees planted under the Community Service Order Afforestation Programme, 5,000 trees planted at the Kianjuki-ini Forest in Kirinyaga County and the Marmanet Forest initiative which aims to plant an additional 100,000 trees.
I also applaud the State Department for producing varieties of seedlings for different ecological areas. The Cabinet Secretaries responsible for the Environment and Interior must effectively coordinate to ensure efficient up-take of the seedlings so that none overgrows in the nurseries.
To solve the problem of overcrowding in our prisons, free up land in urban centres for critical public services and provide more space to accommodate prison population and training facilities. The Cabinet Secretaries responsible for Interior and Public Works have been instructed to urgently develop a Prisons Masterplan which will be used to identify and develop new prison sites. This will provide ample opportunities to impart necessary skills, training and education through correctional services in the spirit of rehabilitation and reform.
At the same time, I note that more than 10,000 prisoners are serving sentences of three years and below. Further, 41 per cent of the prison population is awaiting trial for bailable offences. All these people need not be incarcerated. It is important for stakeholders in the justice value chain to seriously implement alternative dispute resolution and to consider alternatives to imprisonment for relatively minor sentences. I urge the Judiciary to provide leadership in this matter and the Attorney-General to initiate necessary engagements in this respect.
To the graduands assembled on the pass-out parade, your assignment is clearly spelt out for you. You will have the responsibility of performing your duties lawfully in a manner that promotes the objectives of our correctional system and complements our economic transformation agenda through occupational training. Most critically, you will be responsible for rehabilitating offenders into responsible and productive citizens who will not only successfully re-integrate in society upon return, but also contribute significantly to wealth creation and shared prosperity.
I wish you the very best as you undertake this momentous assignment. Thank you very much. God bless you.