The State Department for Correctional Services has set 2028 as the deadline for transitioning all correctional institutions from wood fuel to clean energy, with a multi-agency consultative process now underway to drive implementation.
Principal Secretary Dr. Salome Beacco revealed that the department is among the country’s largest consumers of wood fuel, with each inmate consuming an average of 2.5 kilograms of wood fuel daily. She directed that the shift be implemented under a Rapid Results Initiative (RRI) framework to ensure the 2028 deadline is met.
Speaking during the meeting, Special Envoy for Climate Change in the Executive Office of the President, Ambassador Ali Daud Mohamed, pledged technical support towards the initiative. He emphasized the importance of capacity building, noting that training inmates in clean energy technologies such as biogas would enhance rehabilitation and improve their prospects upon reintegration into society.
Participants agreed that a mapping exercise be undertaken to identify the most suitable clean energy solution for each institution based on available resources, infrastructure and location. Options discussed included Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), biogas, solar-powered systems and induction cooking technologies.
The meeting also identified carbon financing as a potential mechanism to sustain and expand clean energy systems across correctional facilities. The implementing team was directed to revise the concept note to incorporate the guidance issued, develop a data collection tool and commence field data collection within the next two weeks.
Further, the department has planned stakeholder engagements as it works towards broadening a coalition of partners supporting the initiative. The initiative aligns with the Kenya National Cooking Transition Strategy (2024–2028) and the Government’s National Tree Growing and Restoration Campaign, which targets the growing of 15 billion trees by 2032.
The meeting brought together representatives from the Office of the Special Envoy for Climate Change, the State Departments for Petroleum and Arid and Semi-Arid Lands, Kenya Bureau of Standards, Kenya Power, KenInvest, the Clean Cooking Association of Kenya, Ignis Innovation Limited, and Leive Industrial Monitoring.
