NAIROBI: The Prisons department plans to recruit more than 3,000 personnel in a countrywide exercise scheduled for April 27.
Those who want to join the Kenya Prisons Service have to be Kenyans, have a mean grade of D plus and be aged between 18 and 28.
Commissioner General Isaiah Osugo says the exercise will be conducted in 291 centres at the constituency levels and has asked those interested to be physically present there.
Another exercise will be conducted at NYS headquarters and Prisons Staff Training College on April 28.
The department also seeks to recruit technicians and artisans in various fields including health workers, teachers, agricultural officers, cooks, videographers and welders.
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"The exercise is free of charge and no one should pay for it," said Osugo.
The new recruits will undergo a nine-month training session at the Prisons Training College in Ruiru.
"In addition, while undergoing the professional training, recruits will be expected to undertake a self sponsored certificate or diploma course in security and correctional science offered by Kenyatta University at a cost to be determined by the university," said an advert by the service.
This means the training is mandatory for all recruits at their cost.
This comes a week after police recruited 10,000 recruits to join the service.
President Kenyatta announced in February the Government's plans to tailor its budgetary allocation to the prisons service in Kenya to meet the changing operational and logistic requirements.
"We will also improve the terms and conditions of service for all Prison personnel, so that the importance of their work is properly recognized and compensated," he said.
The courses being undertaken will be offered at the Kenya Prisons Staff Training College in Ruiru following a partnership with Kenyatta University.
The recruits will be trained in sociology, criminology and other courses developed by the university in collaboration with the prison college.
Currently, the country has 56,000 prisoners in comparison to 22,500 prison officers that is a rise from 45,000 prisoners that were there three years ago.
The prison service is undergoing major reforms aimed at making it an effective correctional institution. It aims at releasing petty offenders who have led to congestion at the institutions.
