Government Focuses on Revitalizing Prison Industries and Farms for Comprehensive Inmate Rehabilitation

The government is prioritizing the revitalization of prison industries and farms as part of ongoing efforts to reform the enterprise.

During a meeting at the Prison Staff Training College in Ruiru with farm managers and industry leaders from the Kenya Prisons Service, Correctional Services Principal Secretary Salome Beacco emphasized that the restoration of these enterprises is central to the ongoing reforms in correctional facilities.

The Principal Secretary highlighted that the planned reforms in prison industries and farms aim to provide inmates with vocational and agricultural training, which is crucial for their rehabilitation and reformation. This training is designed to ease their reintegration into society upon completing their sentences.

“The training of 8,500 inmates in various vocational trades, including 25 borstal boys and 5 borstal girls, with an additional 56 borstal boys scheduled for trade tests in December 2024, demonstrates that our correctional facilities serve as places for rehabilitation and personal development, not just confinement,” she noted.

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To ensure self-sufficiency despite budget constraints, the Principal Secretary mentioned that the State Department is modernizing prison industries to enhance their capacity and competitiveness. She also urged those managing these enterprises to improve standards and boost production to sustain operations across prison farms and industries.

“How can we better organize ourselves to produce more and improve our processes?” she asked.

On environmental and climate change initiatives, the Principal Secretary called on farm managers to work towards the goal of planting 100 million trees annually, expanding orchards, and producing more tree seedlings.

“In line with the Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda, our farming programs are designed to support food production,” she observed.

As part of the National Landscape and Ecosystem Restoration initiative to grow 15 billion trees by 2032, the Kenya Prisons Service currently has 2,747,095 seedlings in its nurseries, with 1,232,660 ready for planting. In the last three months, 670,072 seedlings have been planted on prison land.

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The enterprise has also launched various programs, including potato production in Nyandarua, maize milling at Naivasha prison, rice milling in Mwea, and the establishment of orchards in Kamiti, Ngeria, Nakuru Main prison, Makueni, and Maranjau prisons.