Botswana: Botswana Prison Service has started its 2024 edition of the Senior Officers’ Conference in Francistown today. Commissioner of Prisons – Commissioner Dinah Marathe commended the Management of the Service during the event.
The event is hosted every year by the staff of the prison service.
During the event, the management team of the Prison Service congregates to review performance for the current year. Further, the team strategizes and formulates a performance plan for the next financial year.
The annual Senior Officers’ Conference was hosted under the theme of “𝘽𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖 𝙃𝙞𝙜𝙝 𝙋𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝘾𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚: 𝙍𝙚𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙍𝙚-𝙀𝙣𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙎𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙚”. The 2024 Conference has shifted its focus very to matching up with the Government Framework. They aim to accelerate Botswana’s transformation from an upper middle-income economy to a high-income economy by the year 2036.
The Commissioner of Prisons – Commissioner Dinah Marathe delivered her tone setting speech. She hailed them for leveraging their daily business on the Commissioner’s Roadmap.
“𝘐 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬…𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘰𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘢𝘱 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴,” she said.
This transformation approach by the Botswana Prison Service, she highlighted, resonates well with the Government’s strategic theme. “𝙏𝙤𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙨 𝙖 𝙃𝙞𝙜𝙝-𝙄𝙣𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙀𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙤𝙢𝙮: 𝙏𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙉𝙤𝙬 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙏𝙤𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙬.” She expressed confidence that this foresight is critical in achieving the country’s Vision 2036 aspirations.
Meanwhile, the President’s Reset and Reclaim Agenda and the National Transformation Strategy are also aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals.
The Commissioner indicated that the Service made significant strides in various areas in the past year. One of the key achievements has been the successful implementation of various rehabilitation programs aimed at equipping inmates with skills and knowledge.
Commissioner Dinah Marathe thus implored the Officers in Charge to intensify their efforts on the Offender Reintegration Programme at their respective stations.
Notwithstanding, the Commissioner addressed issues of Prison escapes and the influx of prohibited articles into the Prisons. She said that she was disappointed by the trend.
Accordingly, the Commissioner urged the management to devise initiatives to curb these anomalies especially the influx of prohibited articles.
She further reminded the Officers for the need to exercise caution and prudence in budget utilization. “…𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺. 𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner urged the conference participants to constructively engage in reviewing performance and move towards promoting a high performance culture for improved service delivery. She challenged them to come up with concrete and tangible resolutions that would provide a clear direction going forward.
The Minister of Defence and Security, Thomas Kagiso Mmusi is expected to officially open the Conference on Wednesday, 21 February 2024. The meeting will end on Friday.
‘𝙇𝙚𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙬𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝘾𝙃𝙊𝙄𝘾𝙀, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝘾𝙃𝙊𝙄𝘾𝙀 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚, 𝙚𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙮 𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙧𝙮. 𝙄𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙪𝙥 𝙩𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣 𝙤𝙪𝙩. 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝘾𝙃𝙊𝙄𝘾𝙀 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙡, 𝙣𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙞𝙧𝙘𝙪𝙢𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨. 𝙇𝙚𝙩’𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙛𝙤𝙘𝙪𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙎𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙏𝙚𝙖𝙢. 𝙄 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙚 𝙖𝙨𝙠 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙂𝙤𝙙 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙪𝙨 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙎𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙚” –