Contraband: Marathe's headache
Pini Bothoko | Tuesday December 12, 2023 08:16
Commissioner of Botswana Prison Service, Dinah Marathe highlighted the security challenges they faced, attributing the rise in criminal activities inside prisons to the lack of involvement by relatives and friends in the rehabilitation process.
“We are highly challenged in terms of security in this era; all over the world, there are a lot of criminal activities occurring in prisons, and Botswana is not spared,” she said. “That is why we have come up with the design of an integrated prison security solution to address this scourge.”
Marathe appealed to the public, particularly parents, to assist in the rehabilitation of their families, as they are often the ones introducing contraband into prisons. She said daily at the courts, if a prisoner asks to use restrooms, prison officers have to search those toilets before use, and definitely, a phone or drugs will be retrieved. “This happens all the time without fail, so we are highly challenged. When they come to visit prisoners, they bring them toiletries, and we always find phones and drugs hidden inside those lotions.
This is a serious problem,” she added. The prisons chief emphasised that instead of the public visiting prisons to see their families and friends, they are coming to commit crimes. Marathe stated that their efforts are constantly disrupted by the behaviour of society, implying that prisoners are enabled to commit crimes and use drugs inside the prison with assistance from the community. “It is highly possible for prisoners to be behind most crimes happening in the community while behind bars because their relatives and friends have brought them phones.
We are trying to detect them, but no system is 100%. These machines are also operated by people who may be corrupt or prisoners who go all out to defeat the system, so we need to work together,” she stressed. Marathe added that their goal is for prisoners to be rehabilitated and not to leave prison as drug addicts. Despite the challenges, she mentioned the implementation of an integrated prison security solution and the installation of CCTV cameras across prisons. She assured the nation that the integrated prison security solution would address their challenges. Marathe also disclosed the establishment of prison police and intelligence to combat this issue.
Furthermore, Marathe highlighted the increase in cybercrime and the potential for prisoners to commit crimes and defraud the public if they have access to phones while behind bars. To mitigate this, she urged the public to help reduce the impact of cell phones in prisons. The decision has been made to construct new prisons outside towns and villages to prevent offensive items from being smuggled inside.