The Kenya Prisons Service is part of the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of the National Government. Its mission is to ensure the public’s safety and security by providing secure custody to all those lawfully committed or sentenced to prison facilities. It is also charged with promoting the rehabilitation of custodial convicted offenders (prisoners) for reintegration into the community.
What Is The Kenya Prisons Service Rank Structure?
Like any government establishment, the Kenya Prison Service has a rank structure employees have to follow during their time with the establishment. This structure is upheld in order to ensure proper operations and for employees to be adequately remunerated for their service.
As of now, the grade or level of personnel in the Kenya Prison Service is divided into 2 parts: Senior Staff and Junior Staff. Although the staff is only grouped under 2 levels, under each of these levels, there are several other offices and one usually starts with the least position and with several promotions, gets to get to the highest position.
Below is a comprehensive list of the various ranks in the Kenya Prisons Service, from the least level to the highest level under each category – Junior Officers Level and Senior Officers Level.
Junior Officers Level
- Constable of Prisons-PG 1
- Corporal of Prisons-PG 2
- Sergeant of Prisons-PG 3
- Senior Sergeant of Prisons-PG 4
Senior Officers Level
- Inspector of Prisons-PG 5
- Chief Inspector of Prisons- PG 6
- Superintendent of Prisons-PG 7
- Senior Superintendent of Prisons-PG 8
- Assistant Commissioner of Prisons-PG 9
- Senior Assistant Commissioner of Prisons-PG 10
- Deputy Commissioner of Prisons-PG 11
- Senior Deputy Commissioner of Prisons-PG 12
- Assistant Commissioner General of Prisons-PG 13
- Deputy Commissioner General of Prisons-PG 14
- Commissioner General of Prisons-PG 15
Kenya Prison Service Salary Structure
The salary of the Kenya Prison Service workers has been reviewed of late and under the new pay structure, prison staff trainees will be starting off on a salary of KSh20,987. More so, it’s gathered that the highest amount a sergeant can earn before being promoted to the following rank is about KSh38,980.
Below is a comprehensive list of the estimated Kenya Prison Service salaries, excluding allowances:
- Constable of Prisons – KSh20,987
- Corporal of Prisons from KSh28,671
- Sergeant of Prisons – KSh31,737
- Senior Sergeant of Prisons – KSh 38,980
- Inspector of Prisons – KSh154,975
- Chief Inspector of Prisons – KSh161,346
- Superintendent of Prisons – KSh170,450
- Senior Superintendent of Prisons – KSh189,874
- Assistant Commissioner of Prisons – KSh201,000
- Senior deputy commissioner – KSh227,000
- Assistant Commissioner General of Prisons – KSh256,000
- Deputy Commissioner General of Prisons – KSh323,640
- Commissioner General of Prisons – KSh423,785
Allowances Paid To Staff Of The Kenya Prison Service
Employees in Kenyan prisons are paid allowances based on their rank. These allowances include risk allowances and housing allowances amongst others. However, not all allowances are given to all workers. Some allowances are allocated to workers in critical conditions either due to health or environmental challenges.
The allowances now in effect in the Service, as well as the circumstances under which they are payable, are listed below.
- House Allowance: All officers of the Kenya Prison Service are eligible for house allowance applicable to their grades as stipulated in Government Circulars issued from time to time.
- Commuter Allowance: All officers in Job Group ‘T’ and below shall be eligible for commuter allowance where they are not provided with Government transport. The rates of the allowances will be determined by the Government from time to time.
- Hardship Allowance: Officers deployed in designated locations that are marked as hardship areas shall be eligible for the applicable hardship allowance as determined by the government when the need arises.
- Leave Allowance: All officers shall be eligible for leave allowance payable once a year. The government will set the rate of leave allowance on a regular basis.
- Extraneous Allowance: Extraneous allowances shall be paid to officers who are called upon to undertake extra responsibilities in addition to their normal duties and therefore work over and above the official working hours on a continuous basis. The rates and eligibility for payment shall be determined by the Government from time to time.
- Acting Allowance: When an officer is eligible for appointment to a higher post and is called upon to act in that post pending advertisement of the post, he is eligible for payment of acting allowance at the rate of twenty percent (20%) of his substantive basic salary. This is given as a form of compensation for taking on additional duties for which he is yet to get the full remuneration.
- Special Duty Allowance: When an officer is called upon to perform duties of a higher post but does not possess the necessary qualifications for appointment to that post, he shall be paid special duty allowance at the rate of fifteen percent (15%) of the officer’s basic salary. The payment of special duty allowance will be subject to recommendation by the Human Resource Management Advisory Committee and approved by the Authorized Officer. More so, travel privileges, housing allowance, subsistence allowance, or an extraneous allowance and entertainment allowance are available to officers fulfilling tasks of a higher rank under this clause.
How Do Officers Get Promoted In The Kenya Prison Service?
Workers at the Kenya Prison Service are entitled to promotions to higher levels during the time of their employment with the establishment. These promotions are made in the order of rank, and one can only advance to the next rank when they have successfully been deemed fit for the promotion. However, even with this laid down promotion procedure, the Kenya Prison Service has had its own share of criticisms with regard to staff promotion.
Nevertheless, it is important to note that in the Kenya Prison Service, promotions are based on educational qualifications and other appointment criteria which are deemed fit at the time of promotion. More so, there is no discrimination when it comes to promotions as all genders, members of all ethnic groups, persons with disabilities, and so on, are provided with adequate and equal opportunities in the selection of candidates for promotion.
Eligible personnel will be mandated to write the necessary promotional exams which are required for advancement. So, upon successfully completing applicable examinations and interviews, the officer is promoted with effect from the date the examination was passed. For official purposes, the Kenya Prison Service will immediately announce the names of all successful candidates on various print media.
