Emerging details indicate that prisons officers have been using fake bulletproof vests unable to protect them from bullets or knife stabs as should be the case.
The revelation was made on Wednesday when the National Assembly's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) established that the department splashed Sh43 million on the items.
Investigations by the Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi-led team established that the bulletproof vests lack ballistic panels and are, therefore, defective.
The same was confirmed by Correctional Services Principal Secretary Zeinab Hussein, who said that the gears proved only able to stop penetration for short-range calibre guns.
However, the PS said that the reason behind the department's use of Sh22 million on the jackets and Sh21 for the vests was because they were "for practice in Prisons Staff Training College and not for combat purposes," reports the Standard Digital.
The MPs also lamented the gears' expensive price, considering that one was procured for Sh70,000, which was supported by Tongaren MP Eseli Simiyu, a retired army man.
He termed them 'substandard' and "for use by civilians and not security officers who most of the time are targeted by high calibre rifles”.
The MPs further questioned the Sh6.2 million pending bills in the prison which they termed fictitious, considering that some are arising from things like food.