The Homa Bay Prison is set to be relocated to pave for the expansion of Tom Mboya University.
On Wednesday, a delegation led by Commissioner General of Corrective Services John Warioba visited the county to inspect the land which has been set aside for the exercise.
The visit follows President William Ruto’s directive for the correctional facility to cede the 27 acres piece of land to Tom Mboya University for its expansion when he visited the county late last year.
The correctional facility is located behind the university just within the vicinity of Homa Bay Town.
“The president gave a directive that the land where the Homa Bay Town prison is should be transferred to Tom Mboya University for its expansion and that is why we are here to do a follow-up to start the implementations of the order,” Warioba said.
“We are focused on implementing the presidential directive and with time I believe all will be well,” he added.
The commissioner, who was hosted by Homa Bay deputy governor Joseph Oyugi Magwanga and county commissioner Moses Lilan, spoke at the governor’s office after paying a courtesy call.
Magwanga said that when the president visited the county they had extensive engagement over the issue of the prison land for the purposes of expanding the university and he is happy he heeded their plea.
“During his visit, the president promised to send a delegation to look into our request and that is the reason why we have this team here today,” the deputy governor said.
Magwanga added that they will carry out the process in a transparent manner, saying they already set aside two pieces of land where the new facility will be constructed.
He said already the greater Rachuonyo, which consists of Karachuonyo, Kasipul, Kabondo Kasupil, already have a prison, adding that the new correctional facility might either be constructed in Homa Bay Town, Ndhiwa, Rangwe, Suba North or South.
“We are going to decide on where to construct the facility after the visit by the team. We have already identified two pieces of land belonging to the national government. It will be done on a larger land more than the 27 acres it currently sits on,” the DG added.
“We are all aware that the issue of land is so emotive and whenever one hears about land matters what automatically comes to the mind is grabbing,” he said
“And that is why a high-powered delegation from the correction services is here to see for themselves so that we can engage and agree on the matter amicably to allow the expansion of the university. We held a fruitful engagement and agreed on measures that will be taken up to legalise the possible transfer of the land,” he added.
The Tom Mboya University’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Charles Ocholla said they welcome the idea since the number of students seeking education in the institution keeps on increasing and there is a need for expansion.
He revealed that when the varsity was launched in 2016 it only had 114 students. However, the number has now shot up to 6000 and they expect it to grow hence the need for more space.
“I am happy for the team who have visited us to initiate the process of relocation of the correctional facility for the expansion of our university,” he said.
