The 2025 Correctional Services Week officially began today under the theme “Enhancing Service Delivery for the Benefit of the Public,” bringing together officers, partners, and international guests to celebrate milestones in Kenya’s correctional reforms.
Defence Cabinet Secretary Soipan Tuya, while delivering her speech, stressed that it is vital for the country to use technology as a way of making the Kenya’s correctional institutions more efficient.
She added that Kenya is positioning itself to be compatible with worldwide trends that are moving away from punitive justice systems to more humane and rehabilitative correctional practices that focus on reforming offenders.
Tuya urged the Prisons Department to expand technical and vocational training to equip inmates with employable skills that will enable their smooth reintegration into society after serving their sentences.
Principal Secretary for Correctional Services, Salome Beacco, lauded officers across the country for their dedication and commitment, describing them as the backbone of Kenya’s evolving correctional system.
She noted that the Correctional Services Week marks months of preparation and provides an opportunity to reflect on the department’s progress and collective mission to reform and serve the public.
Beacco outlined ongoing reforms aimed at modernizing correctional management and enhancing service delivery.
“We are fully embracing digitalization to enhance transparency, accountability, and informed decision-making throughout our correctional systems. Concurrently, we are expanding vocational and technical training programs within correctional facilities to equip inmates with industry-relevant skills and certifications that promote employability and successful reintegration into society”
In collaboration with the Public Service Commission, Beacco said that the state department is set tob strengthen recruitment, training, and performance appraisal systems to ensure that every officer operates with professionalism, integrity, and measurable outcomes.
Quoting Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Beacco stated that digital transformation is about “reimagining humanity’s potential by leveraging technology to empower every individual and organization.”
The PS reaffirmed the government’s commitment to using renewable energy in prisons, promoting green agriculture, and digitizing prisoner records.
She underscored that efficiency must go hand in hand with innovation and inclusion, ensuring that services reach even the most remote facilities and marginalized groups.
The PS emphasized collaboration with stakeholders including the judiciary, county governments, civil society, and international partners, noting that efficiency thrives in an ecosystem of partnership.
“Our aspiration is to build a correctional service that stands as a pillar of national pride rehabilitative, secure, and restorative,” Beacco said.
She called on officers and partners to uphold professionalism, accountability, and compassion, quoting Nelson Mandela’s reminder that the soul of a nation is revealed by how it treats its inmates.