Kenya’s Interior and Coordination of National Government Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i has praised Kenya Prisons College Commandant Wanini Kireri for writing two books.
Mr Matiang’i said Ms Kireri exemplary leadership in a male-dominated field shines because of her courage, creativity, confidence and trust in herself.
Ms Kireri is the first woman in Kenya’s Prison Service to hold the position of senior assistant commissioner of prisons, and the first to lead the Prison Staff Training College as its commandant.
The CS when spoke at the weekend when he presided over the launch of Ms Kireri’s two books ‘Leadership through the Eyes of a Prisons Officer’ and ‘The Disruptor’.
The latter is autobiographical and details the prisons reforms in the Kibaki administration which then Vice-President Moody Awori and Ms Kireri led.
“It is one thing to occupy a position of leadership and it is quite another to be a leader. Indeed, all leadership is about change. There cannot be true leadership without disruption. And this is exactly what Ms Kireri’s leadership has been all about,” said Mr Matiang’i.
He challenged the author to do podcasts so that she can reach more people and encourage them to do better.
Reliving the journey of her life, Ms Kireri said: “When I joined the prison service in early eighties, I was confronted with a very harsh reality. Our prisons were in a very deplorable state. Those incarcerated in our jails had to spend years of confinement in overcrowded and filthy quarters, inadequate food allocations, and little or even no clothing, among other inhumane conditions.”
She said under difficult conditions such as little funding they embarked on comprehensive prison reforms under the leadership of Mr Awori.
“I was privileged to be part of the prison service leadership that was instrumental in executing far-reaching reforms in our prisons. Some of the achievements that I really cherish in my long career include spearheading the adoption of the open-door policy in the Kenya Prisons Service, an initiative which completely changed the face of the Service.”
One of the positions Ms Kireri has held in the correctional system include the Provincial Prisons Commander of the Nairobi region.
Here she initiated talent development programmes that ranged from fashion shows, dancing competitions, sports, comedy, journalism and fine arts; character development programmes such as Alpha, Men of Honour and Women of Peace; modern courses such as training in computer programmes as well as staff seminars on stress management, peak performance, and financial management in all the penal institutions in the County.
At the Langata Women and Shimo La Tewa Main Prisons, she introduced a programme dubbed “remote parenting.” “As a parent, I had always empathised with imprisoned parents who had to be separated from their children for several years. As much as any imprisoned person must forego some fundamental freedoms, it seemed unfair to me that innocent children had to be denied the chance to interact with their incarcerated parents. The remote parenting concept enabled prisoners to have family days when they would spend quality time with their children and at least get to know how they were fairing.”
During the same period, she also introduced beauty pageantry and fashion shows for prisoners. These programmes were aimed at inculcating confidence and self-esteem in the inmates besides fostering the process of re-integration into society.
