By Pili Chimerah
Universal Health Coverage, Food Security, Manufacturing, and Affordable Housing are pillars of the Big 4 Agenda set aside by His Excellency the President of the Republic of Kenya, Honorable Uhuru Kenyatta, C.G.H.
According to the President Delivery Unit, the Big 4 Agenda is a five-year development plan designed to fast-track the realization of the country’s vision 2030.
According to the vision 2030 website, Kenya Vision 2030 aims to transform Kenya into a newly industrializing, middle-income country providing a high quality of life to all its citizens by 2030 in a clean and secure environment.
The State Department for Correctional Services, specifically the Kenya Prisons Service has been successful in achieving some projects which focus on the realization of the Big 4 Agenda.
The results of several projects done in different correctional facilities within the country have enabled its realization.
These projects range from farms that cover the food security pillar, industries that cover the manufacturing pillar, different hospitals which provide services to inmates, staff, and members of the public covering the Universal Health coverage, and different staff houses which cover the affordable housing pillar.
This article will feature a few prisons around Nairobi which have contributed to the Big 4 Agenda. These are Lang’ata Women Maximum prison, Kamiti Maximum prison, Kamae Girls Borstal Institution, Kitengela prison and Ruiru prison. In all these facilities, the offenders are trained on the skills which help in their rehabilitation and eventual reintegration into society
- Food security
Ruiru Prison has a wide acreage of land which has enormous farms cultivating coffee and vegetables such as kale. The coffee covers 77 acres of land in the prison. The type of coffee grown is SL28 which guarantees very high yields. According to World Coffee Research, SL28 coffee is a drought tolerant crop and has good cup quality potential which is most common in Kenya, Malawi, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. It can also be left unattended for years or even decades at a time, and then return to successful production.
Coffee plantation at Ruiru Prison/ Photo: Cullen Wasike
The farm also rears livestock specifically the Dorper sheep. Speaking to the Officer in Charge (OIC) of Ruiru Prison, Senior Superintendant of Prisons, Madam Rosemary Kiio, she said that the Dorper sheep have really had good returns.
“About two and a half months ago, we slaughtered about 52 of them that had overgrown and supplied them to the ration in terms of meat for this institution, and the proceeds then were sent to farms,” she said.
Dorper sheep in Ruiru Prison/ Photo: Raphael Turunga
Also grown at the prison is kale which is used for cooking in the prisons and also supplied to other prisons namely Kamiti Maximum prison, Lang’ata Women Maximum prison, Nairobi Remand & Allocation prison, and Nairobi West prison.
“We in Ruiru prisons are self-sufficient in terms of vegetables so we do not order or get a supply of vegetables, in fact, we have been able to also supply to other surrounding stations,” the OIC said.
At the Langata Women Maximum prison, there is a bakery where inmates are taught skills in baking. The baking products range from cakes, pastries and bread.
“Our staff were taken to Valentine School of Cake, Kariobangi Light Bakery, and also Rina House of cakes. They were trained first before training the inmates so currently we have twenty inmates who are fully trained,” OIC Lang’ata Women Maximum prison, Esther Lochoto said.
After baking, the products are sold to Nairobi West Prison, Nairobi Remand & Allocation, and Remand and also sold to staff and members of the public.
The different products baked at the Lang'ata Women Prison/ Photo: Cullen Wasike
- Manufacturing
In manufacturing, this article will focus on industries while looking at Kitengela prison and Kamiti Maximum prison. In Kamiti, the article will focus on number plate production, carpentry, and masonry while in Kitengela prison it will focus on leather work, soap, detergent, and bleach production.
The number plate production at Kamiti is done using aluminum plates which are split into different sizes for motor vehicles and motorcycles number plate production in the country. The main customer for the number plate production is the National Transport Safety Authority (NTSA).
“We have new machines being introduced which will be able to make the new look of number plates which are going to be used by all our motorists within Kenya under NTSA who are our main customers in number plate production,” the OIC Kamiti Maximum prison, Assistant Commissioner of Prisons Bison Madegwa said.
Motorcycle number plates can be delivered up to 300 plates per day while moto vehicles can deliver about 1000 plates a day.
An inmate at work in Kamiti Maximum prison under the number plate production workshop/ Photo: Cullen Wasike
Number plates displayed at the Kamiti Maximum prison workshop/ Photo: Cullen Wasike
For carpentry, the prison makes chairs, sofa sets, dining tables, and beds among other woodwork using good quality timber for the durability of the product.
A presidential Dias made at the Kamiti Maximum prison/ Photo: Cyprian Kutima
Furniture made at the Kamiti Maximum prison/ Photo: Cyprian Kutima
In masonry, they make gates and repair metallic chairs, while they make metallic jikos among others.
A metallic oven at the Kamiti Maximum prison/ Photo: Cyprian Kutima
Metallic jikos at the Kamiti Maximum prison/ Photo: Cyprian Kutima
At Kitengela prisons, products ranging from shoes to bags and hats are made out of leather which is the major section of the prison.
“Leather section which is our major section in Athi river prison has different sections, one for making shoes, leather tunning and general leather works,” the Kitengela OIC Senior Superintendent of Prisons Laban Tole said.
A leather hat made at Kitengela Prison/ Photo: Cyprian Kutima
Leather shoes made at Kitengela Prison/ Photo: Cyprian Kutima
In the soap section, there is the manufacturing of disinfectants, liquid detergent, bleach, handwash, shampoo, hair conditioners, window pen cleaners, petroleum jelly, and soaps.
Soap made at Kitengela Prison/ Photo: Cyprian Kutima
Toilet cleaners, bleach, soap made at Kitengela Prison/ Photo: Cyprian Kutima
- Universal Health Coverage
At the Prisons Staff Training College, there is a level 4 state-of-the-art hospital. The hospital will include services such as general consultations, pediatrics, radiology, maternity, laboratory, pharmacy, and gynecological, among others.
Wanini Kireri Magereza Hospital at the Prisons Staff Training College in Ruiru/ Photo: Cullen Wasike
An aerial view of the hospital/ Photo: Cullen Wasike
- Affordable housing
Several projects have been completed around different correctional facilities which will guarantee affordable housing to the staff. These houses cut across most prison facilities around the country.
Staff houses at Kamiti Maximum prison/ Photo: Raphael Turunga