Botswana: The Botswana police officers have been upholding high standards of discipline and complying with the service code of conduct and legal frameworks as prescribed by the Prisons Act.
Officially opening the 2023 edition of the Botswana Prison Service Senior Officers Conference today in Selibe Phikwe, the Minister of Defence and Security Thomas Kagiso Mmusi said for the Service to attain its mandate, there has to be a combination of essential services such as accountability, teamwork, security consciousness and integrity.
The Minister said as the Senior Management reviews performance and strategies for the next financial year, discipline should be one of the keywords in their deliberations. He echoed that each and every member of the Service must walk, talk and behave like a well-rounded Prison Officer.
He highlighted that as the Service rebrands, individual Officers also need to transform and rebrand their minds and spread it across so that the organisation remains a formidable force. “I plead with you to talk to your juniors. You have been chosen to save the nation, so let us take the responsibility, respect the rule of law and regard discipline as your culture,” he said.
Meanwhile, Minister Mmusi reiterated that the Prison Service plays a very important role in the safety and social development of the country. He expressed confidence that the transformation of the Service into an institution of correctional excellence will be achieved under the able leadership of the Commissioner and her team. He urged them to continue with a sterling job and use the conference to come up with strategies, initiatives and policies that will assist in providing timely and quality services to the customers.
He implored the Prison Management to ensure that all projects submitted for the Transitional National Development Plan be implemented on time, within scope and budget.
Giving the welcome remarks, Commissioner of Prisons Dinah Marathe said the Prison Service is committed to going the extra mile in order to achieve more with less, thus leveraging on the motto of Building a High-Performance Culture. She said performance targets will be set in such a way that Government will derive maximum benefits from the resources injected into Botswana Prison Service.
She implored Officers to reassess and realign their thinking with the strategies set in order to overcome any problem which might tarnish the image of the organisation.
