Kenya Prisons Commissioner-General John Warioba could be on a collision course with his Principal Secretary after he asked MPs for more autonomy in controlling the service’s funds.
Appearing before the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee of the National Assembly, Mr Warioba called for the decentralisation of procurement “at least for the case of Prisons headquarters”. He said there is need to share the procurement powers of the Principal Secretary in charge of Correctional Services.
He told the committee that centralisation of Prisons procurement has not only distorted the chain of command but also occasioned perennial pending bills, audit queries and various security lapses.
“The problem that exists between the PS and the KPS Commissioner-General is that the PS fails to recognise that my office has to take procurement of certain goods that are security in nature and may not need to go through the normal procurement,” Mr Warioba told the committee chaired by Tharaka MP George Murugara.
He said that the decentralisation of procurement and financial autonomy is necessary to allow him to undertake the procurement of goods and services that are critical to the efficient and effective operations of the prisons service in a timely manner.
The Prisons boss noted that until he gets an approval from his PS, “I cannot do anything even in situations of emergency. I end up being a beggar for the funds allocated to us. Kindly give us some autonomy because that is the only area we have issues with and it is an urgency that the PS may not see.”
Mr Warioba’s request can only be undertaken by the President. The committee, through a resolution passed by the National Assembly may propose to the President the need to reorganise his government “for efficient service delivery”.
The Prisons service was allocated Sh30.9 billion in the 2022/23 financial year that included Sh30.3 billion in recurrent expenditure and Sh534.5 million as development expenditure.
Mr Warioba said he is not averse to accountability. “I only need to do procurement at my place and submit the returns to the PS for accountability. I cannot even buy a cup of tea for my officers without the approval of the PS,” he said.
