National Police and Prisons Reforms Taskforce chair, former Chief Justice David Maraga commended retired president Uhuru Kenyatta during his mission to inspect officers' houses.
Speaking on Tuesday, February 7, after visiting Shimo la Tewa Prison, Maraga lauded Uhuru for building modern housing for the officers.
He noted that the officers were happy with the good work the former head of state had done since he joined the office in 2013.
“We saw the residential premises for prison officers and police officers there. We have been to Shimo la Tewa looking into residential places for officers. Some require a lot of work to be done.
In these two blocks here, they have bedsitters, two and three bedrooms. The plan is fantastic. Officers are very happy only if they could be completed.
I am told that the initiative was started by former president Kenyatta. It is a very good initiative I want to commend former President Kenyatta for this,” he announced.
He however challenged the government to make use of the piece of land at the correctional facility to develop more modern houses for the officers.
According to the Chief Justice emeritus, who was appointed by President William Ruto to chair the team, the only challenge was getting financial support to complete the project.
“ We just need more resources on them. If more of these buildings would be put up they would be very happy. They are living in dignified premises. The good thing is that Shimo la Tewa has a big land of more than 800 acres which can serve the government very well.
The contractor moved out because he was not paid. It goes without saying that it just needs money to be completed. We will make our own recommendations,” he stated.
Maraga held his first meeting with the task force on January 31, at the Bomas of Kenya.
Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome submitted proposals to the task force aimed at improving the Terms and Conditions of service and other Reforms of the National Police and Kenya Prisons Service.
The IG highlighted critical challenges faced by police officers in the execution of their mandate and how the bottlenecks affected service delivery to the people.
