Botswana: The First Lady of the Republic of Botswana, Neo Jane Masisi, addressed the prisoners at Bainesdrift Prison on Tuesday. The First Lady shared a message of hope and presented Christmas gifts to the prisoners.
She also presented a variety of gifts to the prisoners, including football kits, soccer balls, toiletry and snacks.
“Time spent in prison with a focus on rehabilitation and reintegration can result in positive outcomes that would not only benefit Botswana Prison Service but the nation at large,” added the First Lady during her visit.
Neo Masisi also had engagements with ex-offenders in her community outreach programmes, particularly the Gender-Based Violence Campaign. Adding that, she is convinced that these are men and women who contribute positively to building a safer Botswana for all.
Masisi also underscored that most of the ex-offenders are playing a very notable role in combating issues of Gender Based Violence and other social ills currently distressing the society.
The First Lady highlighted that these beneficial outcomes do not happen by accident but through the strategic approach adopted by the Prison Service in designing and implementing the rehabilitation programmes.
She said the newly introduced programmes such as the Gender Based Violence Perpetrator’s Voice, Peace Education and the Mindset Change initiative have made a significant impact on the mental attitude of the prisoners.
Masisi pointed out that after completing their sentences in prison, ex-offenders seamlessly transfer their skills and knowledge to the larger community as a result of the Offender Reintegration Programme, which has now turned out to be a benchmark of other countries.
Masisi said the purpose of the visit was to share life skills and spread a message of love, hope and compassion to the inmates. It is now a norm that every last week of December, the First Lady celebrates Christmas with prisoners at a selected prison.
“𝙏𝙤 𝙢𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙖𝙣 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙞𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙋𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙨, 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙪𝙣𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙪𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙥𝙨, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙨. 𝙄 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙈𝙖𝙙𝙖𝙢 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙧 𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙢 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚…𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙚𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙘 𝙖𝙨 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠,”Neo Jane Masisi.
The First Lady further commended the community and, in particular, Bogosi for leading in the forefront in making sure the Reintegration Programmes bear fruit.
She implored the prisoners to engage in the rehabilitation programmes offered in prison and fully utilise their skills and talents your talents to sustain their livelihoods after completing their sentences. She advised that a prison is not the place to punish but for one to introspect and show self-reproach in order to grow as an individual as well as build a peaceful, crime-free and safer Botswana.
For her part, the Commissioner of Prisons – Commissioner Dinah Marathe, praised the first lady for the kind gesture of always finding it necessary to come and share such a special moment with the prisoners.
She highlighted that the First Lady has been extending the goodwill tirelessly for six continuous years. From the year 2018, the First Lady Visited Gaborone Women, Mahalapye, Moshupa Boys, Selibe Phikwe and Tshane Prisons.
“𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘉𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘴,”
The Commissioner indicated that the support from the First Lady encourages everyone in the Service to perform to their best in order to achieve the mandate of the organisation. She further encouraged the prisoners to receive love from the First Lady wholeheartedly and take all the rehabilitation programmes offered seriously so that they reintegrate back into society as responsible and productive citizens.
This, she pointed out, is the right step in implementing the Mindset Change campaign, championed by His Excellency the President Dr Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi, to transform Botswana and make it a high-income economy by the year 2036.
Prisoners in all the stations across the country managed to connect with Bainesdrift Prison through technology to receive the First Lady’s message.