Botswana: Botswana Prison Service has sworn a pledge to re-align, re-engineer and re-position its processes to cultivate a high-performance culture.
Officiating during his visit to Letlhakane Prison yesterday, the President of the Republic of Botswana, Dr Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi, has said Botswana Prison Service’s determination to transform the Service to a “Model Institution of Correctional Excellence” through the alignment of its business processes to national priorities, deserves recognition.
The President indicated that the Prison Service’s uncompromising stand to transformation and shift of mindset is demonstrated by the implementation of the Commissioner’s Roadmap, a blueprint for the creation of a high-performance culture for improved service delivery in the Service.
The President said individual contribution, as a collective, adds value to the effectiveness and efficiency of the Prison Service; hence, each and every Officer should own and live the organisation’s Motto of building a high-performance culture.
“𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙥𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙁𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙎𝙚𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙎𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙜𝙮, 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙨𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙨 𝙖𝙘𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙜𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙤𝙧 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚. 𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙜𝙮 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙪𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙛𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙗𝙖𝙨𝙠𝙚𝙩,” he said.
He highlighted that the Food Security Strategy also provides opportunities for inmates to venture into modern agriculture, with great emphasis on the use of modern farming technology and appropriate animal husbandry practices.
The President implored the Commissioner and her Team to keep on devising innovative ideas and continue their diligent work towards cost containment. “I am reliably informed that the Prison Service is now self-sufficient in vegetable production and is moving towards meeting the demand for chicken within prisons. This is commendable, and I encourage you to keep up the good work.”
He stated that the Government has made a commitment to achieving food security, improving nutrition and creating employment opportunities for Botswana, hence the support to Botswana Prison Service on their food security strategy.
The President commended the Prison Service for exhibiting at the recent Global Expo Botswana, which is the country’s annual premier international multi-sectoral business exhibition. He said that demonstrated the Service’s commitment to accepting the challenge of re-positioning and re-aligning its products into the sophisticated business environment.
“𝙋𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙁𝙖𝙧𝙢𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚. 𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘽𝙤𝙩𝙨𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙖 𝙋𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙎𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙂𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩’𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙩 𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙎𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙚, 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙨, 𝙩𝙤 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝-𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚,” he said.
As a way of bringing services closer to the people and taking into consideration the ever-changing complex crime landscape, the President stated that the Government intends to upgrade Letlhakane Prison to medium security for purposes of utilising its strategic location to service the Boteti Region.
He said the facility’s expansion, which will be included in the National Development Plan 12, will create opportunities for prisoners to use their skills productively for self-reliance, job creation and value-addition to their communities as they re-integrate into society.
Meanwhile, the President urged the Officers to keep on intensifying their character moulding programmes, particularly those addressing Gender Based Violence, anger management, positive parenting, and peace education, among others.
“𝘽𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙚𝙩𝙨𝙝𝙤, 𝙄 𝙬𝙞𝙨𝙝 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙙𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙮 𝙄𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝘿𝙖𝙮 𝙈𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙖𝙜𝙚: 𝙂𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝘽𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙑𝙞𝙤𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚, 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙥𝙚𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙗𝙮 𝙢𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩 𝙛𝙚𝙢𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙣, 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙗𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙢𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙨.”
The President said that given the spike in the incidence of inhumane acts of violence across the board, it is therefore fitting that programmes should not only be administered to prisoners but officers as well.
“𝙒𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙞𝙥𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙨𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙤𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙪𝙚𝙨, 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙞𝙨 𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣,” he concludes.
During his historic visit to Letlhakane Prison, the President toured the Prison Farm and addressed the prisoners.