President Uhuru Kenyatta on Tuesday signed the Kenya Prisons Enterprise Corporation Order of 2018.
It establishes the Kenya Prisons Enterprise Corporation, a State Corporation, which is mandated to expand the scope of the prisons work programs with the aim of unlocking the revenue potential of the prisons industry and ultimately turn it into a reformative and financially self-sustaining entity.
“The new corporation will also contribute to the realization of President Kenyatta’s Big 4 Agenda, particularly food security, affordable housing, and manufacturing,” a statement from State House said.
The corporation will be mandated to organize and manage the assets of the Prisons Department, including 86 prison farms with a total of over 18,225.9 acres of land.
“The production and sale processes under the current Prisons Department’s enterprise directorate are managed by the Kenya Prison Farms Fund and the Kenya Prison Enterprise Fund,” the statement added.
The two Funds will be merged to ensure the new Corporation operates under a typical business model purposely to spur economic growth in the Prisons Department.
“The enactment of this Order will be followed by the appointment of the Corporation Board of Management and the recruitment of the Chief Executive Officer and the Secretariat.”
The corporation is expected to eliminate bureaucracy and establish a culture of professional training and certification for the staff and inmates and foster ease of entry into partnership with the private sector on different spheres.
“It will also act as a vehicle for strategic investment by government and ensure prisoners are rewarded through better pay for their labour.”
The Corporation, which will operate as a State Corporation under the State Corporation Act Cap 446 Laws of Kenya, will be wholly owned by the Government and mainstreamed by the Prison Act Cap 90, Borstal Institution Act Cap 92 and Persons Deprived of Liberty Act of 2014.