By Louisa Ochilo, 2018.
In October 2018, H.E President Uhuru Kenyatta signed the Kenya Prisons Enterprise Corporation Order, 2018 to establish the Kenya Prisons Corporation Order. This new order is expected to unleash the revenue potential of prisons in Kenya. One of the ways in which this may be done is develop and maintain meaningful work programs to fully utilize available prison labour. The order also gives the Corporation the mandate to engage with any public or
private organizations to further its objects. This opens the door to the possibility of For Profit Prisons.
For Profit Prisons or private prisons are places in which individuals are physically confined by a third party that is contracted by a government agency. In Kenya Prisons are run and maintained by the government. However, with this new order The Government, through the Corporation may partner up with private organizations to set up Prisons. Organizations such as G4S, which already have private prisons in England, may be an example of those that may set up Prisons.
While these private prisons may be beneficial as they reduce the amount spent by the government on prisons and may offer better conditions for the prisoners there are some dangers associated with them. This is because for the prisons to be beneficial, there must be prisoners. This is because the prisoners are often workers who make money for the prisons, this money is used to sustain the prisons. This may lead to more people serving longer sentences to ensure that there are
always prisoners. In addition to that the prisons may force the prisoners to work in inhumane
conditions which may bring us dangerously close to slavery. This goes against the goal of Prison confinement. The confinement is meant to reform and rehabilitate the person and then release them into society.
Private prisons aim at keeping the person in confinement for longer. They prioritize profits over purpose. This may open up corruption among judges to ensure longer sentences are served. One may say that these prisons should then house those serving life sentences. However, in the way these prisons are set up they are given the opportunity to pick which prisoners they may house. They may refuse to house dangerous inmates. Those serving life sentences have committed capital offences and may be considered dangerous or violent. This is because it may be costly to supervise such prisoners. In addition to this in aim to cut costs these prisons may be understaffed which is unsafe for both prisoners and the community at large.
Therefore, it is important to carefully set up such institutions Steps need to be taken to ensure prisoners are not exploited or taken advantage of. Compelling prisoners to work for the private sector is prohibited by the Forced Labour Convention and wages. Therefore the prisoners should be treated respectfully and conditions while they work should be close to normal labour. While it is necessary and for prisons to retain a percentage of income produced from work carried out by prisoners, the structure of these prisons needs to be transparent and accountable. Measures must be put in place to minimise and deter any corrupt operation. This not only protects those in prisons it also ensures that our court and prison system is working for the better of society.
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