At total of 10,000 prisoners in Kenya have been enrolled in the controversial government medical scheme – Social Health Authority (SHA) – that gives them access to affordable and quality healthcare, Principal Secretary State Department for Correctional Services Salome Muhia has said.

According to Muhia, the exercise of registering inmates, which started in May, is ongoing and so far, has 10, 000 captured inmates. The completion of the registration assures the inmates of quality healthcare as they target to register all the 60,000 inmates in the country.

The principal secretary underlined the need for registration to ensure that all Kenyans are SHA compliant to enable them to get affordable and quality healthcare, which includes all inmates in prison and probation centres who also have a right to quality healthcare as stated in the constitution.

“10,000 prisoners have registered for SHA and we anticipate to register all 60,000 prisoners in Kenya since Article 43 of the constitution provides that healthcare is a right and is to be extended even to inmates,” added the PS.

She was speaking at the Machakos GK Prison during the monthly tree planting under the Greening Kenya initiative. Together with other prison officials, she planted trees at the Machakos Prison and Probation Office and expressed that over time the facility will plant 1,500 trees. The principal secretary disclosed that the ministry expects to plant 50,000 tree seedlings in all correctional facilities around the country.

Muhia acknowledged the efforts made by convicts at the correctional facilities. They have been taught farming as part of their vocational training by watering and taking care of the trees that has helped promote environmental quality. She says the effort will help meet the presidential target of planting 15 billion trees by 2032.

She also commended the support by county governments and other well-wishers in constructions of boreholes that   supplement during rain shortages and help take care of the trees around the prisons and probation offices across the country.

The PS further noted they did an inspection of the Machakos probation offices and the prison so as to assess the ongoing initiatives and do a needs assessment so as to ensure there is effective rehabilitation and reducing recidivism.

• A Tell Media / KNA report / By Anne Kangero