President William Ruto has directed the Kenya Prisons Service to begin leasing its idle land to private investors for development purposes.
Speaking during the launch of National Police and State Department of Correctional Services Strategic Plans 2023-2027 on Friday, December 13, Ruto disclosed that the move was meant to improve the productivity of lands.
According to the Head of State, there was a lot of land under the custody of the prison service that was going to waste since no activities were being done to maximise their productivity.
Ruto explained that leasing the idle parcels of land to private investors would mitigate food security by ensuring continuous food production.
Prison Officers conduct patrols outside the main gate of Kamiti Maximum Prison
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“The Prison Service will begin leasing land to private entities. We have so much land in the hands of the government, and we have seen what commercialisation of these lands can do,” Ruto stated.
“There is every reason why we must work with the private sector to produce foods and other products so that we can make these assets much use more,” he added.
Addressing the police officers, Ruto also announced plans to provide the Kenya Prisons Service with more vehicles to ease the transportation of both police officers and prisoners.
While expounding on his speech, the Head of State warned that lack of implementation of the proposals could lead to an overall failure of the National Police Service (NPS).
Police officers were further put on notice against practices that contravene human rights and freedoms such as extrajudicial illegality, impunity and extreme behaviours.
“We must operate within the parameters set out in the constitution, we must protect the lives, property, liberty of citizens and our democracy, that is an imperative and constitutional requirement of our security agencies,” Ruto stated.
Additionally, President Ruto called on Kenyans to uphold the rule of law and obey police officers during their operations. According to Ruto, a section of Kenyans often attack and vilify police officers.
“It cannot be the case that while our security men and women at doing their utmost, they are being attacked, vilified and lack support, it cannot work, we have to strike a balance.”
President William Ruto speaking during the East African Community Summit in Arusha, Tanzania, December 2024.
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PCS
