Botswana: Botswana Prison Service Commissioner Dinah Marathe addressed the officers at the Prison Staff College on Thursday. Commissioner Marathe emphasizes the need for alignment between the learning centre’s responsibilities and the attributes and attitudes of the instructors to ensure the delivery of high-quality training programmes for the officers.
She reminded them that they are responsible to mould and produce men and women of integrity, who are fit for purpose and are ready to serve the nation diligently and with dignity. “This is a measure which we need to constantly review and capacitate you to perform up to the desired standards in order to achieve our mandate as a Service,” she said.
Commissioner Marathe underscored that as new entrants into the system, the trainees would always look up to the instructors as their role models who provide mentorship and direction. She reiterated that instructors and the entire College staff should inspire the trainees so that they make the right life choices positive changes, and strive toward new goals both for their own lives and the Prison Service.
“𝘞𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘖𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘧𝘧 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘧𝘶𝘭, 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘴,” she said.
Moreover, the Commissioner challenged them to always lead by example and desist from issues of absenteeism, questionable sick leaves and other breaches of discipline. They were cautioned that this kind of behaviour would not only rub off on the trainees but is also an eyesore as it tarnishes the good name of the Service.
She pointed out that the Prison Service is committed to achieving a culture of high performance; hence everyone must ensure that whatever they do on or off duty must resemble such.
“𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘥𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦. 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘉𝘰𝘵𝘴𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦,” she advised.
The Commissioner further stated that as think tanks of the Service, the College Staff should embrace a culture of reading and inform themselves about the current trends in criminal space. She implored them to be up-to-date and conversant with new technologies, particularly on cybercrime so that they could detect and deter such activities before they could enter the prisons.
The officers were urged to come up with new programmes tailor-made for the inmates, which could be included in the curriculum, especially for the young offenders, so as to shape their futures. The Commissioner said all these initiatives are embraced in the President’s Reset Agenda, particularly Priority 5 (Mindset Change) and Priority 3 (Digitization).
Meanwhile, the Commissioner applauded the Officers at the College for having all joined the Prison Service Welfare Scheme.
“𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘚𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴,” said Commissioner.
She highlighted that the other initiative under the Welfare Scheme is the Physical Fitness, Sports and Social Responsibility Programme, which will promote participation in sports and physical fitness while at the same time addressing the social needs of officers in times of need.
The Commissioner also apprised the officers on the new developments among others procurement of specialized escort vehicles, the process to introduce the Prison Air Wing, the procurement of Integrated Prison Security Solution (IPSS) and staff accommodation.