40 OFFICERS AWARDED AFTER SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETING INAUGURAL PEACE EDUCATION PROGRAM

By Martha Munyambu

The State Department for Correctional Services has successfully concluded the inaugural Peace Education Program, marking a significant milestone in advancing rehabilitation and promoting peaceful coexistence within correctional institutions.

The closing ceremony, held at the Makadara Probation Office, was presided over by the Secretary of Administration, Sammy Kioko, who represented the Principal Secretary for Correctional Services.

The program is a collaborative initiative between the State Department for Correctional Services and the Prem Rawat Foundation, South Africa, aimed at equipping correctional officers and offenders with practical peace-building skills, emotional resilience, self-awareness, inner discovery and conflict resolution techniques.

Speaking during the ceremony, Kioko lauded the partnership for complementing the Department's rehabilitation agenda, noting that peace education is an important tool in fostering positive behavioural change among offenders while strengthening the capacity of officers to deliver correctional services with professionalism and integrity. He further noted that the program will assist in reducing recidivism in correctional institutions even as he implored on the participants to serve as peace ambassadors.

A total of 40 officers drawn from the Kenya Prisons Service and the Probation and Aftercare Service completed the training and were awarded certificates. Having completed the programme, the participants have now qualified as Trainers of Trainers (ToTs) and will spearhead the rollout of the Peace Education Program by training fellow officers and peace education sessions for offenders across correctional institutions.

The Peace Education Program reflects the State Department for Correctional Services' commitment to building a correctional system that transforms lives through healing and rehabilitation.

Through the newly certified Trainers of Trainers, the program is expected to  reach more officers and offenders, boost peace, respect, and positive transformation within correctional facilities.

As part of the program implementation strategy, Kiambu Probation Office has been selected to pilot the Peace Education Program before it is rolled out to other correctional institutions across the country.

The ceremony was attended by the Acting Secretary, Probation and Aftercare Services, Shadrack Kavutai, alongside other senior officers from the State Department for Correctional Services.