PROMOTIONS

The on-going prison reforms are gathering pace with the members of the 18,000 strong force set to benefit from a series of promotions across ranks, Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka has said.

Mr. Musyoka said as part of the implementation of the Madoka report, hundreds of junior and senior prison officers will soon benefit from the expanded establishment in various ranks.

He said with the new reforms, the issue of prison officers stagnating in one job group for long will never occur again since the department has created posts for promotions.

In the new establishment there will be two Senior Deputy Commissioner of Prisons 1, Senior Deputy Commissioner of Prisons 2 from 1 to 8, Deputy Commissioner of Prisons remain 17, Senior Assistant Commissioner of Prisons from 16 to 30, Senior Superintendent of Prisons from 40 to 96 and Superintendent of Prisons from 103 to 172 among other ranks.

The Vice President made the remarks Thursday when he officially launched the legal and human Rights Unit in prison stations at a ceremony held at the Nairobi west prison.

He assured the staff that the ministry will continue giving them moral support and motivation to enable them perform efficiently in their duties.

At the same time, the Vice president asked prison personnel to uphold high standards of discipline and professionalism and to avoid engaging in acts that are contrary to regulations governing discipline forces.

Mr. Musyoka re-affirmed the government's commitment to reforms in the country's correctional services facilities to make them conform to international standards.

He said the launch of integrated correction services improvement programme and reforms secretariat in 2008, much progress has been realized particularly in the rehabilitation of inmates, housing, healthcare, transport and general welfare of both staff and prisoners.

"Legal and human rights issues have for a long time raised public concern, prompting the need for continuous improvement in the correctional service institutions", he said.

The Unit is mandated to provide legal aid to staff, remandees, convicted prisoners as well as offenders on custodial sentences and victims of crime.

It will also preside over human rights related complaints, disputes, arbitration between offenders and victims of crime and undertake human rights awareness activities in the correctional services among other programmes.

Mr. Musyoka on whose docket the Kenya Prison Services fall asked all players in the correctional services to dedicate their energies in the ongoing reforms to ensure sustainability and enhanced service deliver.

He stressed the need for closer collaborations between agencies in criminal justice system including the police, judiciary and prison services in order to realize success in overall reforms.

"Joint efforts with stakeholders will greatly contribute towards the dignity and improvement of the basic rights of offenders", the Vice President noted.

The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Dr. Ludeki Chweya singled out housing as the major challenge facing the prison department, saying that currently the institution needs 15,000 housing units for its staff.

Dr. Chweya noted that the Ministry has already set up a committee to handle the housing issue.

He said the Ministry recognizes the importance of the rights and dignity of prisoners and this is why the Ministry has set up the legal rights unit to look into the rights and violations of prisoners.

The former Chairman of the Task Force on Prison Reforms, Major (Rtd) Marsden Madoka lauded the progress of the on-going reforms in the penal institutions and appealed to the prison staff to be patient since the reforms need massive funding.

Present at the function included Acting Senior Deputy Commissioner of Prisons, Benjamin Njoga and Deputy Commissioner of Prisons, Rose Moturi among other.