Correctional Services Principal Secretary Dr. Salome Beacco says her department has developed elaborate plans that will see correctional centres become more self-sufficient as part of ongoing reforms targeting prisons.
Speaking during the groundbreaking ceremony of the Chandaria Shimo la Tewa Women’s Prison Workshop, the PS said the targeted reforms not only seek to fully rehabilitate inmates by equipping them with requisite skills through vocational training, but also working with stakeholders to bridge budget deficits within the prison department.
According to Beacco, the income generating projects that includes revival of the leather tannery in Kitengela, building of a hobbies and handicraft centre at the Nanyuki main prison, upgrading all day care centres in women prisons which host children below 4 years old, are part of the envisaged reforms being implemented across various prison facilities across the country.
The workshop at the Shimo la Tewa women prison will encompass a bakery, tailoring and an ICT hub section. It will also hold the ‘Karakana Project’, an initiative by H. E the First Lady, Rachael Ruto where female inmates will be trained on cross crocheting.
The workshop is a partnership between the State Department, Chandaria Foundation and Safal Building Solutions Ltd.
At the Shimo la Tewa Borstal Institution, the PS handed over 350, 000 shillings worth of paint donated by Kansai Plascon East Africa.