By John Gerezani

I’ve got a crush on my boss, and I don’t care whether this is going to earn me seven days on penal diet — in the cold punishment cell. As Oscar Wilde aptly put it, "one of the many lessons that one learns in prison is that things are what they are and will be what they will be, so let me enjoy my one minute of fame.

Wanini… I am on one knee, smart in my uncle Moody designed pin-stripped kunguru (uniform). I have in my hand a bouquet, which I’ve studiously arranged from the many flowers in our gardens. I have bribed the ration store master to spare some extra unga and sugar with which I have baked a nice ugali to stand in for a cake. Since I noted that you keep a well coiffured hair style, I’ve ensured that all the greys on my head are temporarily blacked out by the shoe-shiner. And what’s more, I finally smuggled in a tin of the banned Vaseline so my skin is supple kiasi. Will you hear me?

Hahaha! I’ve got you chaps. Wanini Keriri, the officer in charge of Shimo la Tewa Prison, stands for any woman who has decided to make this world a better place. Wanini is that self-assured woman who does not expect her husband to do everything for her. Wanini is that woman who acknowledges that the hope of a secure and liveable world lies with disciplined non conformists who seek the best out of the forgotten members of our society.

Today, I celebrate women leadership and I’m not ashamed to say that a time has come for this country to have a paradigm shift in the manner in which it views the contributions of women. If a woman can so calmly take control and bring order to a male penal institution hosting the most dangerous and cunning gangsters , what more proof do we need that wametosha?

If a woman (Grace Odhiambo) can be judged as the best penal institution head in the world in a male dominated field, why should we continue raising the ceiling whenever they are about to break glass?

If Grace Kaindi could so deftly handle crime in a whole province despite competing political interests of the day, why should we look down upon our women?

Shimo la Tewa, Industrial Area, Nairobi West and Kiambu prisons are amongst those being led by women and despite being all male, their discipline levels are exemplary. Compare their record to Kamiti, Naivasha and Kodiaga prisons, which are forever making the headlines for all the wrong reasons. If it’s not about torture, you will hear of scams. If it’s not about inmates dying in droves, it will be about entrenched corruption.

Drama never ceases in these major prisons and more are self-inflicted by myopic leadership. It seems an established neti tenet that "the man of narrower mind is often the better administrator" as Josephy Rickaby once said.

Wanini Kereri (left), the officer in charge of Shimo la Tewa Prison receives a certificate from UN director on drugs and crime, Antonio Costa (centre). Right: Hollywood actor Nicholas Cage. Photo Omondi Onyango/Standard

That is not to diss all the male leadership. There are a couple who are good at their work. The commissioner must try posting more women to positions of leadership and leave the men to do the desk jobs at headquarters. Look at what the Director of Administration has achieved in such a short span; transferring people who had stayed so long at particular stations that they had themselves become institutions. Even though the clean-up is far from over, it is a move in the right direction and for once, no money is changing hands as has been the norm.

The other thing is that hardcores listen very keenly to mamas so they are best placed to lead the rehabilitation drive. They are sensitive to our needs, love cleanliness and make wholesome meals and are less corrupt. What’s more, they are innovative.

Look at the poultry project at Shimo and the bakery at Langata to get the drift. So whichever manner we look at it, our women have proved their mettle and we should encourage one to go for the top seat…on condition that she makes me the Prime Minister!