Ruto skips Prisons pass-out parade as Murkomen pitches Ruto-Kindiki 2027 ticket

President William Ruto has today pledged to improve the welfare of Kenya Prisons Service officers through better pay, healthcare, housing and modern working facilities, even as his Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen injected fresh political significance into Deputy President Kithure Kindiki’s role by projecting a Ruto-Kindiki ticket for the 2027 General Election.

Ruto was scheduled to preside over the 27th Kenya Prisons Service Officer Cadet Passing-Out Parade at the Prisons Staff Training College in Ruiru, Kiambu County, today, August 24, 2026 but did not attend the ceremony.

Kindiki stepped in at short notice to represent him.

In a speech delivered on his behalf by Kindiki, Ruto said the Government was determined to reverse decades of neglect of prison officers and modernise the correctional services.

“The government has continued to invest in the modernisation of the Kenya Prisons Service. We cannot demand a modern correctional service from officers working with outdated tools, inadequate infrastructure and difficult living conditions,” the President said.

Ruto said the government had already implemented two phases of salary reviews that had significantly improved remuneration for prison officers.

“Following Phase I and II of the salary review, entry-level remuneration for a prison constable rose by more than 36 per cent, while the maximum point on the salary scale increased by approximately 24 per cent.

Phase III took effect on 1 July 2026, further demonstrating our commitment to the welfare and motivation of our correctional officers,” he said.

The president said officers had also been enrolled under the Usalama Cover provided through the Social Health Authority (SHA) to improve access to healthcare.

Kindiki, representing Ruto, also commissioned the 150-bed Wanini Kireri Magereza Level IV Referral Hospital at the Prisons Staff Training College.

The facility will serve prison officers and their families, inmates and residents of surrounding communities.

The Kenya Prisons Service is also expected to receive 28,000 housing units under the Affordable Housing Programme, including 9,000 units to be procured through public-private partnerships.

The government has further acquired 41 vehicles for the service under Phase VII of the Government Motor Vehicle Leasing Programme, with plans for additional investment in electric vehicles to modernise the fleet.

Ruto challenged the Prisons Service to accelerate the adoption of technology and strengthen the skills of its officers to respond to emerging forms of crime.

“Radicalisation, organised crime, cybercrime and trafficking demand new knowledge, new capabilities and new tools. A correctional service that does not modernise cannot keep pace with the threats it exists to contain,” he said.

He urged prison officers to maintain high standards of professionalism and integrity, while respecting the dignity of inmates.

“A prison sentence takes away liberty. It does not take away human dignity. You must therefore be firm without being cruel; vigilant without becoming abusive; disciplined without becoming indifferent; and authoritative without becoming arbitrary,” Ruto said.

But beyond the prison reforms, the ceremony became a platform for renewed political messaging on the 2027 presidential contest, with Murkomen openly suggesting that Kindiki would retain his position as Ruto’s deputy if Kenya Kwanza secures a second term.

Addressing Kindiki, Murkomen said the Government would continue implementing its programmes over the remaining year before the elections and suggested that Ruto and Kindiki would return to office together.

“We want to say that as a ministry we will continue supporting you and the President to make sure that the remaining part of the programs in the next one year are completed, so that as His Excellency starts a new term together with you after next year’s elections, we will be having now newer programs to upscale the issues we have promised the people of Kenya to the next level,” Murkomen said.

The remarks come as negotiations over a proposed UDA-ODM alliance continue, with the Deputy President position emerging as one of the most contentious issues in the proposed coalition arrangement.

Senior ODM officials, including National Assembly Minority Leader Junet Mohamed, have indicated that the party would seek the Deputy President position as part of any electoral agreement with UDA and Kenya Kwanza.

Kindiki’s allies and senior UDA figures, however, have insisted that the incumbent Deputy President should remain Ruto’s running mate.

Public Service Cabinet Secretary Geoffrey Ruku has previously told ODM to abandon its claim to the position, maintaining that Kindiki would remain Deputy President in a second Ruto administration.

Murkomen did not say whether UDA and ODM had reached an agreement on the running-mate position, but his remarks provided one of the clearest recent signals from a senior Government official that the current Ruto-Kindiki arrangement could continue into 2027.

The Interior CS also disclosed that Ruto had been expected at the ceremony but asked Kindiki to represent him at short notice.

“We were expecting His Excellency the President, but on a very short notice His Excellency asked you to be here. And indeed, you have shelved a number of activities and important meetings that you were to attend to be present with us today for this very important occasion,” Murkomen told Kindiki.

Murkomen used the occasion to highlight reforms across the National Police Service, Kenya Prisons Service and National Youth Service, saying the cadets’ graduation was part of a broader Government reform programme.

“Your Excellency, we are on track. There was the task force that was established by His Excellency the President on reforms in the National Police Service, the Prison Service, and the National Youth Service,” he said.

He said about 3,800 police constables had graduated earlier in the year and called for regular recruitment to replace officers leaving the service through retirement and other forms of attrition.

Murkomen also praised Kindiki’s performance as Deputy President, saying he had carried the professionalism he demonstrated as Interior Cabinet Secretary into his current office.

“Since you became the Deputy President, you have carried out the professionalism that you showed as a Cabinet Secretary Interior to the Office of the Deputy President. Now the Office of the Deputy President is more dignified, it is respected, it is engaging,” Murkomen said.

The CS also said the Government was seeking to transform prisons from institutions primarily associated with punishment into centres focused on rehabilitation and reintegration.

“We want to have prison services that are going to do the work that is going to change the people that come here and become better citizens when they exit,” he said, pointing to healthcare, farming and commercialisation programmes as part of the shift.

The 36 officer cadets who passed out today completed a 13-month training programme at the Prisons Staff Training College in Ruiru and will now join the Kenya Prisons Service.