Interior CS Fred Matiang'i on Thursday commissioned a professional course for cadet officers for the Kenya Prisons Service as part of the government’s progressive reforms in the country’s correctional services.
The first cohort of 160 officers recently recruited is to undergo a 13-month long rigorous training – six months of classwork at the Prisons Staff Training College (PSTC) in Ruiru, six months in practical field training, and the final month endurance and leadership training at the Kenya School of Adventure and leadership (KESAL).
Matiang’i said the programme was conceptualized purposely to position the Prisons Department on a par with other law enforcement agencies in terms of efficiency, responsiveness, and professionalism.
“This is the first class of cadets and technical officers we are training. The President wants us to begin walking the journey of a new phase of reforms where we must emphasize more on capacity building and preparing officers for the next generation of institutions we are going to have," he said.
"We need to move away from some of the habits we’ve had and ways in which we’ve done our work before and move on to a much more modern, intense, multi-agency way of managing the sector."
Prisons Staff Training College Commandant, Wanini Kireri said the batch comprises young Kenyans of a wide demographic diversity, including one person with special needs.
During the event, Matiang’i stated that it is the desire of President Uhuru Kenyatta to see the course yield positive results and ultimately become a template for the transformation of the prisons industry.
"The landscape of correctional services is now changing world-over. It is in response to these changes that our president decided we must now up the game," Matiang'i said.
"We want to modernize the capacity of our correctional services; we will take officers through a rigorous leadership and management training so that when we give them correctional institutions to manage, they understand the law, the human rights of inmates, and the philosophy of correctional services."
He also indicated that the training ushers in a new approach to phasing out of officers within the Kenya Prisons Service who have not undergone cadet training
Retiring officers will be replaced by the new breed of highly trained and skilled cadets.
The CS added that a similar programme will soon be introduced to the National Police Service (NPS) with a view to reforming the security sector and law enforcement operations.
The Commissioner-General of Prisons, Wycliffe Ogallo, said that upon completing the initial course, the cadet officers will proceed to a six-month practical attachment in various penal facilities across the country after which they will be deployed accordingly based on their professional training, knowledge and competencies.
The State Department for Correctional Services has been implementing a raft of far-reaching changes designed to improve its human resource capacity and service delivery.
Besides the graduation of 3,000 recruits in August 2020, the department recently recruited 600 probation officers with a view to positioning it as a truly reformative entity.
According to the Principal Secretary Zeinab Hussein, the Department has also participated in the Salaries and Remuneration Commission job evaluation exercise in the Public Service Sector for the 2021-2025 remuneration cycle as it progressively addresses the welfare of its officers.
Matiang'i on Thursday also launched the roadmap to peaceful elections with the National Cohesion and Integration Commission.
