Address tension in prisons over promotions

Nothing should be left to undermine the principle of merit in promotions. Unfortunately, nepotism and open bias continue to be the yardsticks by which promotions in Government institutions are awarded.

There are reports of tension building up in the Kenya Prison Services after promotions were seen to be awarded irregularly.

Academic degree holders complain of being side-lined in the promotions where wives, relatives and friends of those in authority have been promoted. Last year, the department invited warders with long experience and good qualifications to apply for promotions.

It turns out that was a mere formality since there are indications that a few individuals had already been identified for the promotions.

Acquiring a degree is painstaking work, done at great cost in terms of time and money, which should be rewarded. Nepotism at work has no place today, having been the cause of incompetence and the lethargy in the civil service in the past.

That the exercise of awarding promotions within the prisons department is ongoing despite a court order directing that the exercise be stopped is an open show of disdain for the court process.

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Court orders are binding, meaning therefore, that those who knowingly go against them are challenging the court. Impunity, too, has no place today and the court must stamp down its foot by punishing those who disobey its orders.