Her name is Wanini Kireri. She served as the Senior Assistant Commissioner General of Prisons in Kenya, a mother of one, a professional counsellor and an author of a book titled The Disruptor.Wanini started her career in 1985 at the Kenya prisons service as a cadet officer. Her first posting was at Lang’ata Women Prisons as a duty officer. But she was unprepared for what she saw in prison where there were inadequate beddings, food, sanitary towels and dirty clothes which shocked her.
In 1986 she was promoted and transferred to Embu Women Prisons as the officer in charge. She saw this as an opportunity to improve the lives of both inmates and the staff at the Embu Women Prisons. She started by ensuring that high levels of hygiene were upheld within the accommodation areas. Then, she got new uniforms for inmates and staff under her command, which boosted their morale.In 1993 she got promoted to the rank of Superintendent of Prisons and then transferred to the Prisons College as a Senior Lecturer.
Wanini welcomed partnerships from various organizations, churches, who came on board and offered a helping hand to the prison by donating beds and sanitary towels. Some even constructed daycare centres for the children of the inmates.At around the same period, Wanini championed formal education for the inmates and had well-wishers support through the provision of stationery. She also introduced other initiatives that included beauty pageant programs for the inmates and a remote parenting program, a concept she borrowed from China while on a benchmarking tour.
The program allows families, especially children, to visit the prisons and spend a day with their loved ones. This program was later adopted by all prisons countrywide. In 2006 she was transferred to Shimo La Tewa Maximum Prisons, a male-only prisoners institution, as the first-ever female officer in charge of the prison.In 2017 she moved from the Nairobi Region to Prisons Headquarters as the Director, Legal Section. To nurture talents and invoke creativity among the inmates, she introduced dancing and drama competitions leading to some inmates becoming professional entertainers upon leaving the prisons.
In addition, she teamed up with the Presbyterian Church who offered a Diploma course in theological studies for both inmates and staff. She then went on to serve as the Commandant of the Ruiru Prisons Staff Training College, a position she held since 2018, the first female to hold this position in Kenya.
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