The National Government through the State Department for Correctional Services is working towards relocating Homa Bay GK Prison to give way for the expansion of Tom Mboya University.
The Commissioner General of Prisons Brig (Rtd) John Warioba said it was a directive from President William Ruto that the 27-acre prison land be handed over to the university for the sole purpose of expansion of the educational institution.
The GK prison which is directly adjacent to the university is anticipated to be moved to Homa Bay Sub-County, Rangwe, Ndhiwa, Suba North or Suba South Sub-County all within the county.
The Commissioner General spoke in Homa Bay town during a meeting with university officials while accompanied by Homa Bay County Commissioner Moses Lilan, the Deputy Governor Joseph Magwanga and Peter Ocholla, Tom Mboya University Vice Chancellor and other officials from the State Department of Correctional Services.
“We are here to start the implementation of the presidential directive which is to ensure that we hand over this land to Tom Mboya University for its expansion,” said Warioba.
He added that the delegation is focused on implementing this directive and was optimistic that the whole process would be fruitful.
The Deputy Governor on the other hand appreciated the president for initiating the process, saying that he had promised to send a team to look into the issue of the university’s expansion during his last visit to Homa Bay.
“We had extensive engagements on issues pertaining to the prison’s land for the purpose of expanding Tom Mboya University when his Excellency the President visited us and he did promise to send a team for that reason,” he stated.
The DG noted that the engagement would prove to be very beneficial to the university’s growth, adding that they were yet to begin the process of legalizing the transfer of ownership of the land.
The University’s Vice Chancellor was optimistic that the expansion of the university would grow the number of the students from the current 6000.
“Currently, we have a 6000 strong students’ population and we are expecting the number to increase,” he noted.
Ocholla was thankful to the President and the State Department for Correctional Services for taking their time to follow up and commence on the process of relocating the prison. He reiterated that Tom Mboya University was ready to help develop the county and the country as a whole.
By Sitna Omar
