Botswana: A few weeks ago, Botswana Minister of Defence and Security Thomas Kagiso Mmusi donated farm machinery and implements to the Botswana Prison Service to support its Food Security Strategy.
Yesterday, on Friday, the Ministry of Defence again Officiated yet another significant milestone in the delivery of the Commissioner’s Road Map
On Friday, the Prison Service in Gaborone officially handed over fourteen (14) new housing units, Modern, secure, and functional living spaces for them and their families.
The Minister commended Commissioner Marathe for making significant strides in improving Staff Welfare, as signified by the considerable number of housing units that have been secured for Prison officers not only in Gaborone but also at the outstations.
He said the Prison Officers Officers Welfare Scheme, which has so far given birth to a number of programmes that include the recently commenced Sports and Social Responsibility Programme, is a testimony to the Commissioner’s passion for the Officers’ welfare and conditions of service.
Minister Mmusi indicated that the Prison Service’s acquisition of the housing units is testimony of the Government’s commitment to supporting citizen economic empowerment, innovation and infrastructure development and the importance that the Ministry places on providing suitable housing for officers.
“𝘉𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘈𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 4 𝘰𝘧 𝘝𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘋𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 5 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴,” he said.
The Minister also expressed happiness that the procurement of the housing units was budgeted for during the current financial year and that the successful delivery of the project is a success factor in the Service’s endeavour to improve project implementation capacity.
He further promised that resources would be dedicated in the coming financial year to acquiring new housing units for the stations located in remote areas such as Boro, Bainesdrift, and Tshane, which would be delivered through the Development Manager Model.
“𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺’𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘸𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦,” he said.
The Minister challenged the occupants of the housing units to take good care of them so that they retain their excellent condition.
“𝘉𝘺 𝘴𝘰 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘖𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘎𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦,” he said.
In her welcome remarks, Commissioner Dinah Marathe said the procurement of the houses is a fulfilment of one of the Service’s key strategic objectives of improving the welfare of Prison Officers.
She pointed out that the houses and their added comfort will translate into increased productivity and significantly improved service delivery.
“𝘈𝘤𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘰 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘱𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮,” she said.
She further indicated that in an endeavour to transform as an organisation, the Prison Service has identified human resources as one of the critical components in excellent service delivery.
“𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘧𝘧, 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴. 𝘈𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥,” she said.
The Commissioner conveyed her gratitude to the Ministry of Defence and Security led by the Minister, Hon. Thomas Kagiso Mmusi and Permanent Secretary, Ms. Pearl Ramokoka for their continued support for the Prison Service despite the resource constraints.
Meanwhile, in an effort to contribute to Government cost-cutting measures, Commissioner Marathe said that the Prison Service have resorted to coming up with the Letsema Initiative, where both the Officers and Prisoners come together as a collective to refurbish old and dilapidated houses in some stations.
“𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘝𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 2036 𝘗𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳 2 𝘰𝘧 𝘏𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘋𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵,” she said.
The fourteen (14) housing units were bought from Mowana Construction (Pty) Ltd, a citizen-owned company, at a total cost of P15,948,600.00.
In an effort to provide decent accommodation for Officers, the Prison Service has procured a number of houses in Gaborone, Serowe, Machaneng, Mahalapye and Francistown. Furthermore, the Service undertook the construction of housing units at various stations such as Francistown, Mahalapye, Bainesdrift, Kanye, Gaborone, Letlhakane, Mochudi, Maun and Boro.