Prisons' boss promise more whips

NELSON DIRENG
Correspondent | Thursday June 24, 2010 00:00

 

He told a prisons anti-corruption workshop in Gaborone on Tuesday that since he became commissioner in 2008, he has revamped the department by shaking officers out of their comfort zones. He said he discovered there was less delivery and this prompted him to restructure the organisation. He stated that the move  has been fruitful as there has been an improvement in the department. 'I will continue moving people even though I have lost favour with others for doing so,' he said. Motlalekgosi has been seconded to prisons from the Botswana Defence Force (BDF). He said that as a leader, his philosophy entails transformation through introspection. 'This has been divided into two sub-categories being self-realisation and self-actualisation,' he explained. He said for prisons to align itself with the government's anti-corruption initiative, it must start by accepting that there is graft in the organisation. He said after the realisation, prisons can then come up with strategies to combat corruption.

The theme of the prisons anti-corruption workshop was: 'Accountability, Key To Corruption Prevention'. At the workshop, the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) deputy director, Botlhale Makgekgenene described corruption as abuse of power for private or personal gain or unfair personal benefit from actions that are against the law or against public interest. She said this includes unfair competition, inefficient service delivery, distorted policies and social justice which exacerbates poverty and undermines authority, accountability and the rule of law.

Makgekgenene said institutions have to play a leading role in fighting corruption. Assistant commissioner of prisons, Nto Tomeletso said that currently the department is vulnerable to corruption as most of its systems and policies are outdated.

He said that since prisons is now autonomous, the time has come for it to enhance its managerial capacity. He said they have  realised that they must root out incompetency to prevent future mishaps. 'We are responsible for the safe keeping of the nation,' he stated. He said prisons is not taken seriously, although it is considered the end tail of the justice system.

'We are the ones who take care of people who have been convicted of all kinds of crimes, thus we have to ensure that they are rehabilitated and not just returned to the society with the same mind frame,' he said. Tomeletso said in the past, inmates have been able to maintain illegal contact with those outside prison through officers or other criminals because of poor management and corruption. 'The workshop has however educated us on ways in which we can help prevent such corruption and went further to point out possible issues that may be hindering the organisation's growth,' he said. He explained that the department still has challenges in disposing old uniforms because of lack of rules and regulations; weak procurement systems leading to defective supplies; and outdated systems which criminals have discovered how to exploit. Tomeletso said they will review their policies to consider which ones are not effective.