Prisons boss John Warioba has detailed the sorry state of the country’s correctional facilities, cautioning the situation may get out of hand if not urgently addressed.
The Prisons Commissioner General said biting budget constraints are pushing both warders and inmates in the 133 stations to the edge.
In a tell-all confession before a parliamentary committee, Warioba told MPs that scenes of inmates in tattered uniforms and fading uniform for the officers were the order of the day across the prisons.
He told members of the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee that their hands are tied despite several protestations from the Ombudsman about the deplorable state of prisoners’ uniform.
“There is an acute shortage of the inmates’ uniforms due to budgetary constraints, escalating inmate’s population and prices that have forced the majority inmates to either walk in custody,” Warioba said.
According to the much-touted reforms of safe and humane custody, an inmate is entitled to two pairs of uniform annually.
“The office of the Ombudsman has on several occasions complained to the service on the deplorable state of prisoners’ uniforms, which not only undermine their dignity and self-esteem but also poses a potential health risk to them,” he noted.
As if that is not enough, the 60,000 inmates currently being held up in the various stations are forced squeeze themselves in the 28,000 capacity available accommodation space.
This has resulted into prisons holdings inmates more than double their capacity.
“The funds allocated are inadequate to procure the requisite prisoners bedding. Each inmate is required to be issued with a mattress and two blankets. However, due to budgetary constraints, there is an acute shortage of prisoners beddings,” the prisons boss said.
The situation is not any better for the 32,000 prisons officers with many forced to do with old uniforms as the service is unable to provide the two pairs annually as required.
The Commissioner General of Prisons further noted that the service has only 7,000 decent housing units for its officers against a staff population of 32,000.
“This means that the majority of officers live away from their workstations. However, we need more officers to live within their workstation owing to the nature of our work,” he stated.
He was quick to point out that it is envisaged that the matter would be addressed by the 23-member task force appointed to oversee the improvement of reforms for members of the National Police Service and Kenya Prisons Service.
“Due to limited resources, the service has been perennially procuring few and inadequate sets of uniforms,” he said.
The Prisons boss also protested low funds for his office something he claimed has made it impossible to respond to emergencies, some of which are national security issues.
“Every procurement I must do requisition to the PS. Until it is approved there is nothing I can do even if the matter was an urgent security issue like a wall of a prison coming down,” Warioba told MPs.
He called for a law change to give his office financial autonomy to enable him respond to emerging issues that require quick response.
“The Commissioner General be given financial autonomy to timely undertake all the procurement of goods and services which are critical to the efficient and effective operations of the Service.”
