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State launches Sh50,000 training centre for Shimo La Tewa's female inmates

Correctional Services PS Salome Beacco during a groundbreaking ceremony at Shimo La Tewa on January 12, 2024.

By Farhiya Hussein | Thursday, January 18, 2024

The government sees the prisons initiative as an extension of vocational programmes, particularly for women.

The State, in collaboration with a private firm, is establishing a workshop that will benefit female inmates at the Shimo La Tewa Prison in Mombasa County.

During the groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday, Correctional Services Principal Secretary Salome Beacco announced that the Sh50 million facility will teach skills that will enable the prisoners to start businesses and make money. It will have a bakery, tailoring equipment, and an IT hub.

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The workshop, sponsored by the Chandaria Foundation and the State Department for Correctional Services is set to be completed mid February.

"We hope this workshop will train inmates in baking, tailoring, and IT — an exciting new frontier. Once complete, it will be equipped with commercial tools, and female inmates will receive raw materials and seed capital," said PS Beacco.

Correctional Services Principal Secretary Salome Beacco in Shimo La Tewa, Mombasa County, on January 12, 2024.

Positive impact

The Shimo la Tewa workshop is the third after similar facilities at the Meru and Lang’ata Women's prisons, with two more set for Kisumu and Nyeri later this year.

PS Beacco emphasised the positive impact the project has had on inmates, saying, “It has been successful in prisons like Langata Women's, where there is a bakery and a clothing section. Our female inmates have gained lots of skills and earned a lot of money. In Langata, some of them have earned up to Sh48,000 in three months,” said PS Beacco.

The government sees the prisons initiative as an extension of vocational programmes, particularly for women.

The PS said she hopes the inmates are equipped to own businesses, and are able to save enough capital for startus back home, once they are released from prison.

“The idea that this workshop will be run as a social enterprise, with the proceeds aimed at assisting the inmates in skills development and reintegration, is an opportunity for them to reconnect with society,” PS Beacco said.