5 September 2008
editorial
Nairobi — New prisons boss Isaiah Osugo has his job cut out for him. He is coming in at a time when focus is on the the prisons' performance.
He and his deputy George MacGoye have the task of spearheading the much talked-about prisons reforms, which seem to have run out of steam midstream.
Their appointment followed recommendations from the task force headed by former Cabinet minister Marsden Madoka, which was appointed following the unprecedented warders' strike a couple of months ago.
Like task forces before it, the Madoka team exposed the rot at the department and made far-reaching recommendations on the way forward.
The reforms started in earnest in 2003 after Narc came to power. For a while, concrete actions were taken that gave the department a new face.
New uniforms, television sets, mattresses and buses were bought to give inmates some comfort. But although welcome, the net sum was that the focus was more on inmates' welfare than anything else.
Issues about warders' terms of service such as housing were never addressed. Fundamental structural reforms were never pursued.
Thus, although prisons are meant to rehabilitate inmates and transform them into productive members of society, this does not seem to happen.
People walking out of the prison gates are more hardened and destined to commit worse crimes than before.
In a nutshell, the urgency to shake up the prisons system is not negotiable. History has thrust the onus on Mr Osugo and Mr MacGoye.
We don't for a second wish to imagine that their takeover is but a game of musical chairs. They must deliver on the reform platform on which they have been appointed.
Most importantly, they need political goodwill and resources to do the job.
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