An assessment of factors affecting work motivation of officers of the Kenya prison service: A Case Study of Nakuru County Prison Facilities

Abstract

The Kenyan prison system was established by the colonial government in 1911. Since then the prison department has grown to cater for correctional needs of the time. To meet its objectives, the Kenya Prisons service receives large amounts of resources from the public coffers. However, there is no evidence that it is using the resources prudently to enhance its performance. In addition, recent studies show that the prison officers have low morale which has led to absenteeism, desertion, general indiscipline, conspiring with the inmates to traffic drugs, illegal use of mobile phone and engaging in corrupt activities, among others. Therefore, the study sought to assess the factors affecting work motivation of the officers of the Kenya Prison Service in Nakuru County Prison Facilities. The study was guided by four objectives namely; housing conditions, remuneration, career progression and reporting structures on work motivation of prison officers. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. The study targeted 385 prison officers. Stratified random sampling was used to select 116 respondents. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics with the aid of SPSS version 22. The results were presented by use of pie charts and graphs. The findings revealed that junior officers lived in deplorable, temporary structure that were shared and lacked the supply of electricity and clean drinking water. The level of remuneration for low cadre staff was found to be low compared to the officers in higher cadres and hence low levels of job commitment for low cadre staff. Promotions in the Kenya prison service were done although in an unclear manner that led to negative perception among low rank officers. The study therefore recommends that the Kenya Prison Service should embark on an immediate housing project for its staff. The level of remuneration of officers should be looked into to ensure that salaries are improved in line with their responsibilities.