Mmusi said he was confident that coupled with the skills training, the psycho-social support services come in handy to complete a whole changed person, who is responsible, productive and law abiding.
The minister made the remarks at the ground breaking ceremony of the refurbishment of six staff houses to be completed entirely by prison labour at the prison complex in Gaborone this week.
He said towards their efforts to build a high-performance culture in the manner in which they rehabilitate prisoners, the service has proven to be on the right path.
“Let me pass my special thanks to all the prisoners who are involved in this project. Gentlemen, this is a true reflection of your dedication and commitment not only to transforming and shifting this country to a high-income economy, but also to shape and change your lives for the better.
This platform provides you with an opportunity to gain knowledge and understanding of the craft through skills training, psycho-social treatment and rehabilitation programmes offered to you,” he said. He further stated that skills training programmes such as construction, welding, carpentry, upholstery, agriculture, just to mention but a few, are critical in enhancing prisoners’ entrepreneurial prowess and self-sufficiency after their release. “It is against this background that I implore you to enrol as many prisoners as possible in these programmes so that they are not left behind and can compete with their counterparts in the market with the same skills and qualifications.
The service is efficient in carrying out projects with prison labour. I am saying this because they have always delivered to expectation. I am fully convinced on the record of the prison service that these houses will be delivered. The service through this project, will save a total of P1, 057, 800.00 for the government,” Mmusi said. In addition to the skills acquisition programmes, Mmusi said prisoners are provided with psycho-social support services for character building services that include counselling, spiritual upliftment, peace education programme, offender victim/family reconciliation and character moulding programmes.
He said through successful skills training and pyscho-social services, the government anticipates a successful reintegration of prisoners back into the mainstream society. Mmusi said it was the service’s responsibility to ensure that prisoners are sensitised on the available government programmes that they can benefit from upon their release from prison. He added that with successful reintegration, re-offending will be a thing of the past, thus ensuring a safe and crime free Botswana as it will enable ex-offenders to contribute meaningfully to development of their communities and the country at large. “It is therefore quite imperative to keep on encouraging them to take the rehabilitation programmes seriously so that they gain more knowledge, maintain sober attitude and be ready to enjoy the government programmes like any other Motswana. As we break ground on this project, let us reaffirm our commitment to fostering a culture of rehabilitation, empowerment, and offender reintegration. Together, we can build a safer, more inclusive society where every individual has the opportunity to realise their full potential,” Mmusi said.
Focusing on the renovation of staff houses, Mmusi said it is not only about improving infrastructure. It is also about investing in the well-being of prison personnel who play a pivotal role in ensuring the safety, security, and rehabilitation as well as reintegration of inmates within the service’s facilities and by extension, to the society.
“These key areas make up the mandate of the prison service. It is therefore critical that we look after staff well. I have no doubt, whatsoever, that by providing prison officers with conducive accommodation, we acknowledge the centrality of their tireless dedication and commitment to duty. Improving their conditions of work is thus the responsibility we must always seek to accomplish,” Mmusi said. He further assured that improved staff accommodation contributes to a positive atmosphere thereby contributing significantly to enhance the mental and emotional well-being of staff. He added that such state of affairs results in increased morale and enhanced productivity. “I have been advised that the renovation we are starting will surely improve the standard of the houses. This will come about as the houses have three bedrooms, kitchen, living room and an ablution with a shower and toilet shared by three officers. This is even worse when one imagines that the officers may be staying with their children. I have been advised that the houses will, after renovations comprise four bedrooms with each officer having a kitchen living room and bathroom to themselves.
This would be a huge improvement,” Mmusi said. He stated that carrying out projects with prison labour has two important features to it, firstly it is at a much lesser cost than it would cost if it were carried out through private contractors thus a cost saving return. Secondly, he said is skills acquisition as it allows prisoners an opportunity to put newly acquired skills to practice thus strengthening learning.
For her part, the ministry’s permanent secretary, Pearl Ramokoka, said the project depicts exactly the narrative of doing more with less, which is doing more with the already available resources. She stated that the initiative benefits both the officers’ accommodation and prisoners’ skills acquisition expedition.
“You will all concur with me that this kind of project implementation mechanisms off-set government spending as less is going to be spent to refurbish the houses as opposed to when a private company was engaged. Through this initiative, officers are going to be provided with habitable housing and on the other hand, the initiative provides prisoners with opportunities to acquire vocational training skills geared towards part of the prison service mandate of providing needs-based rehabilitation programmes and services,” she said.
