Kenya’s prisons operating on strained budget, with Sh3 billion in unpaid bills

Kenya’s prisons are running on a threadbare budget, with inmates surviving on just Sh192 a day each, an amount barely enough to cover a loaf of bread and a cup of porridge.

This dire rationing has pushed the State Department for Correctional Services into a deep financial hole, with unpaid bills now standing at Sh3 billion.

Principal Secretary Salome Muhia, appearing before MPs on Tuesday, said the government provides Sh192 per inmate daily, falling short of the Sh275 required.

The gap, she said, has turned prisons into places of growing desperation as the department struggles to meet even the most basic needs.

Appearing before the National Assembly Public Accounts Committee, Muhia attributed the unpaid bills to repeated budget cuts by the National Treasury.

She said that while the budget is approved by Parliament, the ministry’s allocations are often revised during supplementary budgeting, leaving them unable to meet financial commitments to suppliers.

“The problem has been that our budget is approved by Parliament; it is usually revised in the supplementary estimates, meaning we are unable to meet our obligations,” Muhia stated

The Auditor General’s report for the 2022-23 financial year showed that the department had accrued Sh6.8 billion in pending bills. Muhia, however, said deliberate efforts have since reduced this figure to Sh3 billion.

Commissioner General of Prisons Patrick Mwiti accompanied the PS during the session.

Budget cuts

Muhia emphasised that the situation could continue unless a policy safeguards the department's budget from cuts.

She also noted that some of the pending bills go as far back as 2015. The department’s development budget for the current financial year was initially over Sh1 billion but was reduced to Sh40 million, disrupting operations and affecting their ability to honour supplier obligations.

MPs questioned why the bills had remained uncleared for nearly a decade.

“Is it that your department cannot convince the Treasury to increase your funding during the sector meetings?” Lugari MP Nabii Nabwera asked.

Mathioya MP Edwin Mugo called for the pending bills verification committee to be summoned.

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“We need it to come here and give us the total cost of pending bills and timelines for payment,” he said.

Committee chairperson Tindi Mwale supported the suggestion.

“We will invite the committee to appear before us so that they can give us a way forward,” he said.

The committee is expected to follow up on the matter as the ministry struggles to stay afloat amid shrinking resources and rising obligations.