Batswana urged to help reform prisoners

NELSON DIRENG
Correspondent | Wednesday December 8, 2010 00:00

Khubamang said that former convicts are usually looked down upon and stigmatised, hence making it difficult for them to be absorbed back into society.  He said the public should learn to accept and live with ex-convicts.

Khubamang's company, Scud Missile Promotions, deals with rehabilitating prisoners by engaging them in different sporting, music and art activities.

Last week Scud Missile hosted road shows in northern prisons - Mahalapye, Serowe, Selebi-Phikwe, and Maun where the mandate was to introduce the idea to convicts. Khubamang engaged the Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA) and the Department of Youth, who sponsored the road show and also taught the prisoners about how their departments could help fund businesses they want to engage in when released from prisons.

Khubamang said the trips were successful as they were able to gain favour from the inmates.

'Prisoners rarely listen to people from the outside and it was a good sign that they considered what I was offering as important,' he said.

Khubamang said his next move is to spread the initiative to prisons in the south.

He said this would happen sometime next year and competitions in different fields would be organised between prisoners in the north and prisoners in the south.

He has bought five computers for the Boys Prison in Gaborone and said he would like to buy computers for all the prisons.  He said that computers in this day are used for almost everything, which is why it is important for inmates to possess such skills before being returned to the public. 'However, this is only possible if we get assistance from the society,' he emphasised. 

Khubamang added that the prisoners' rehabilitation programme is going to continue outside after their release.

He said that they monitor the performance of people they have worked with and try to look for jobs for them whenever possible.  'It is never easy to find them jobs because of the stigmatisation attached to them, but it is the least we can do to prevent them from going back to committing crime,' he said.

The Scud Missile team consists of four members, these being the director - Khubamang, the music tutor - Kabo Mogotsi, councillor - Ishmael Opelokgale, and motivational speakers, Mothei Sejakgomo and Akanyang Koro, who happen to be ex-convicts.