PARTICIPANTSʼPAPERS
CORRECTIONAL SYSTEMS IN KENYA
Pamela Atieno Onyango

The correctional system in Kenya is made up of two key government agencies,namely,the Kenya
Prisons Service and the Department of Probation and Aftercare Service. These departments draw
their mandates for criminal justice legislation from the Constitution of Kenya 2010, the Criminal
Procedure Code, the Penal Code, and the Sexual Offences Act, among others. The Department ofChildrenʼ
s Services plays a corrective role in so far as rehabilitating children who are committed torehabilitation schools in the country. Their major role is taking care of the welfare of children in thecountry as outlined in the Childrenʼ
s Act 2001.The Kenya Prisons Service derives its mandate from thePrisons Act,Chapter 90,and Borstal Institutions Act,Chapter 92,Laws of Kenya. The Department ofProbation and Aftercare Service draws its mandate from the Probation of Offenders Act,Chapter 64,Laws of Kenya and The Community Service Orders Act, Chapter 10, of 1998.

I. KENYA PRISONS SERVICEThe Kenya Prisons Service falls under the Ministry of Internal and Coordination of National
Government. There are 107 prisons in the country including two Borstal institutions and one Youth
Corrective and Training Centre. The Prisons Service is charged with the responsibility of containmentof prisoners and rehabilitation of offenders. It has various vocational rehabilitation programmes inline with offender needs which are administered by prisons officers, chaplains,psychologists,welfareofficers, counselors, social workers and medical personnel. These vocational rehabilitation programmes are geared to enable social re-integration of the offenders at the end of their prison terms.
The department also works with various non-state actors who assist with various supplementaryprogrammes.
A. Borstal Institutions
There are two Borstal institutions run by the Prisons Service. Shimo-La-Tewa Borstal Institution
falls under the Shimo-La-Tewa Maximum Security Prison in Mombasa City. Shikusa Borstal Institution is based at the Shikusa Prison in Kakamega Town in the Western part ofthe country. The inmatesat these two institutions are male juvenile offenders aged between 15 and 18 years and are committed
by the courts at the recommendation of probation officers. Among the vocational programmes in theseinstitutions are:formal education, leatherwork, carpentry, poultry and animal farming, horticulture,metalwork and auto mechanics. The inmates undergoing formal education sit for national examinations while the ones undergoing vocational training sit for national trade tests. The commitment
period is three years but after a period of one year,the inmates can be released on a special license andare supervised within the community for a period of three years by probation officers. At the moment,a Borstal for girls is under construction.
B. Kamiti Youth Corrective and Training Centre
The Prisons Service has only one Youth Corrective and Training Centre that is based within theKamiti Maximum Security Prison. These youth are males aged between 15 and 20 years and arecommitted for a period of four months on the recommendation of probation officers. However,at theend of the four month period, the inmates are released unconditionally. They similarly undergo
vocational rehabilitation programmes tailor made to fit into the four months such as poultry andanimal keeping, farming, life skills training, among others.

Chief Probation Officer, Division of Aftercare, Department of Probation and Aftercare Service, Kenya.

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II. DEPARTM ENT OF PROBATION AND AFTERCARE SERVICEThe Department of Probation and Aftercare falls under the Ministry of Interior and Coordinationof National Government. It is the sole government administrator of community-based sanctions inKenya. The Constitution of Kenya and various statutes empower the Department to participate in theimplementation of criminal law and correctional services. Specifically, the Department derives its
mandate from the Constitution of Kenya 2010 and the following statutes:
The Probation of Offenders Act, Chapter 64, Laws of Kenya
The Community Service Orders Act, No.10 of 1998, Laws of Kenya
Prisons Act, Chapter 90, Laws of Kenya
Childrenʼs Act 2001, Laws of Kenya
The Borstal Institutions Act, Chapter 92, Laws of Kenya
The Sexual Offences Act No.6 of 2006, Laws of Kenya
The Power of M ercy Act of 2011, Laws of Kenya
The Criminal Procedure Code, Chapter 75, Laws of Kenya
The Penal Code, Chapter 63, Laws of Kenya
The M ental Health Act, Chapter 248, Laws of Kenya
The Departmentʼs vision is “A just,secure and crime free society”. The mission is “to promote andenhance administration of justice,community safety and public protection through provision of social
inquiry reports, supervision and re-integration of non-custodial offenders, victim support and socialcrime prevention”.
The Department works with courts and other criminal justice agencies in order to facilitate theadministration of justice through provision of social inquiry reports,supervision of court sanctions andrehabilitation,re-integration and resettlement of offenders,and promotion and participation in victimʼ
srights and welfare. The Department operates 120 stations which serve all courts countrywide, four
probation hostels and two community resource centres. The headquarters is based on the 11th floorof the Re-insurance Plaza in Nairobi.
Probation and Aftercare Service has,on average,been supervising over 30,000 offenders daily whoare subject to probation and community service orders. It generates social inquiry reports for court
sanctions, i.e., probation and community service orders. Other reports generated are for pre-bailassessment, aftercare reports for ex-Borstal inmates, ex-long-term prisoners and Special Category
Offenders released by the exercise of the Presidential Power of Mercy. Aftercare and Special Category
Offender programmes are relatively new areas and so far the Department is engaged with relevant
agencies in an internal arrangement, though without legislative mandate. These arrangements exist
because the Probation Department is the only government agency that generates social inquiry reports
for non-custodial sanctions.

III. DEPARTM ENT OF CHILDRENʼS SERVICES
The Department of Childrenʼ
s Services falls under the M inistry of Labour, Social Security andServices. It is mandated to safeguard the welfare of children under the Childrenʼ
s Act 2001, Laws ofKenya,and deals with two categories of children,i.e.,children in need of care and protection and thosein conflict with the law. The Department conducts social enquiries and provides reports to courts and,in addition,provides accommodation to children in need of care and protection in rescue centres while
those in conflict with the law are committed to rehabilitation schools on the recommendation ofProbation Officers. Children whose court cases are ongoing are remanded to childrenʼ
s remand homes.
The judiciary has designated childrenʼ
s courts and trained magistrates to deal with childrenʼs caseswithin all the law courts countrywide.
Children undergoing rehabilitation in rehabilitation schools are offered a wide range of programmes which include formal education and vocational training. They are also provided withpsychosocial support by the childrenʼs officers,counselors and spiritual leaders. Facilities for children
in the country include 14 police stations that have child protection units,12 remand homes,10 rehabili-214

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tation schools, 2 reception centres and 4 child rescue centres.

IV. CONCLUSION
It is apparent that Probation and Aftercare Service is the only agency that cuts across all thecorrectional services and works with all categories of offenders from these institutions. It is therefore
imperative that the staff are equipped with the necessary skills to handle offenders effectively.
Correctional Services in Kenya work in collaboration to offer services in their various specialization
areas with the objective of rehabilitating, re-integrating and resettling offenders while upholding
community safety and promoting victimsʼrights and welfare. This has been made easier with theestablishment of the National Council on Administration of Justice (NCAJ), an umbrella high level
organ under the leadership of the Chief Justice and comprises heads of agencies in the criminal justicesystem and other civil society organizations.

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