National Police, Prison Services in new plan for officers' housing

Migosi police houses building in Kisumu county which is currently under construction. Over 100 police from Kisumu will benefit from 180 million national government police housing project. [COLLINS ODUOR,Standard]

The National Police Service (NPS) and the Kenya Prisons Service (KPS) plan to tap into the government’s affordable housing programme (AHP) to improve the living conditions of their officers.

The 2023-2027 strategic plans of these two State agencies detail the need to leverage the AHP and provide affordable mortgages to enable the purchase of these units. The Kenya Prison Service details in its plan how it seeks to leverage public-private partnerships (PPPs) to put up these units.

This is as the National Police Service seeks to retain part of the rental income it gets from police housing to develop more units and do renovations as part of the housing reforms set to take place in the service’s 2023-2027 strategic plan.

The NPS plan references the Bottom-up Economic Transformational Agenda (BETA), which details how policing services can be improved, including police and prison housing.

The plan lists National Police Service infrastructure and facilities, working conditions and staff welfare, digitisation and technology integration in NPS operations and services, and logistical, operational, and investigative capacity among the key results areas (KRA).

Housing falls under the working conditions and staff welfare KRA. Under this, the NPS plans to improve the welfare and working conditions of officers to boost morale and productivity.

The plan states that this will improve reviewing the psychosocial support mechanisms available to officers to avoid work-related stress.

“This will also include the aspects of developing policies on recruitment, career progression, housing, reward system, staff development as well as offering comprehensive healthcare and recreational facilities to officers and their families,” the plan states.

This KRA requires Sh80.1 billion over five years. Due to a resource gap of Sh195 billion over the five-year plan, the NPS seeks to retain part of its revenue to meet its goals. “Seek part retention of police generated housing revenues to finance housing and facility development and renovations,” reads the plan in part.

The plan unveiled in December 2024, alongside the State Department for Correctional Services’ strategic plan 2023-2027, emphasises the police and prison mortgage scheme as one of the reforms for officers in the country.

In the draft version of the plan, the NPS had proposed to negotiate for a special allocation of affordable housing to police officers at affordable rates. This is at both the county and sub-county level.

“Police officers and civilian staff of NPS require decent and adequate houses and thus the need to negotiate for at least 10 per cent allocation of affordable housing,” reads the draft version of the strategic plan.

In the 2023-2027 strategic plan for the State Department for Correctional Services, the provision of affordable mortgages to officers has also been highlighted as well as the modernisation of correctional facilities.

Under the housing and settlement pillar of the plan, the State Department seeks to construct 28,000 units of staff houses through the government and public-private partnership across the 121 stations in the country.

This will include complete new correctional facilities and construction of prisoners’ wards. “Further, the State Department will facilitate training of inmates on various technical craft to contribute the pool of artisans that will support the realisation of the housing and settlement pillar,” reads the plan.

 In June 2024, the State Department for Correctional Services Principal Secretary Dr Salome Beacco commissioned 100 housing units at Shimo la Tewa GK Prison as part of the 28,000 housing units goal.

Security services

The goal of the State Department is to ensure every officer stays within the prison premises. In November 2022, President William Ruto appointed a task force led by retired Chief Justice David Maraga to look into the welfare of prison and police officers.

It provided recommendations on the housing crisis of the uniformed.

“The reforms proposed in the Maraga Taskforce Report, which have been adopted by the security services concerned, also extend to the Kenya Prison Service. Consequently, the construction of 28,000 housing units in the prison service will commence immediately,” said President Ruto during the launch of the strategic plans. Part of the task force report states that in many prisons across the country, officers are living in conditions that are dehumanising.

“As is the case with National Police Service, officers in Kenya Prison Service and their families live in mud housing, dilapidated, congested and in condemned structures,” reads the report.

“Officers also live in tents or shacks that they construct for themselves. Needless to say, these conditions undermine the morale of officers in the services and consequently affect their performance and service delivery.”