BONELA shocked at Merafhe's condom ban

MARANYANE NGWANAAMOTHO
Staff Writer | Tuesday September 7, 2010 00:00

 

The Vice President, Lt General Mompati Merafhe, said last Friday at a National AIDS Council (NAC) meeting that BONELA should accept that the government is not going to provide any condoms in prisons, and should learn that a 'no' means 'no'.  'He told me that we have to stay out of these issues as they do not concern us,' said the Director of BONELA Uyapo Ndadi.

Merafhe told BONELA to understand that inmates are insulted by the idea of provision of condoms in prisons, and that the cabinet has therefore decided against it. 

'I don't know which prisoners he talked to, when and how? I asked him how he is going to address issues of prevention among the most at risk populations, which include men who have sex with other men? But he told me to stay out of it,' said Ndadi. 

At the last NAC meeting in May this year the Minister of Health Reverend Dr. John Seakgosing spoke strongly against failure of provision of condoms in prisons, calling it 'an emergency that needed immediate attention.'

Even then, the Vice President showed hostility saying the behaviour of men sleeping with other men was an illness and should not be an issue.  'Maybe we should provide wives in prisons,' he said to the amusement of some of the attendants. However, at the end of the meeting chaired by former president Festus Mogae it was agreed that the Minister of Health should take up the matter with relevant authorities for possible approval.

Last week Merafhe said Seakgosing was 'just expressing his personal views' and not of the government and should therefore not be taken seriously. 

Ndadi is not buying that. He said  BONELA is 'disappointed that a matter so grave was treated in a manner that it was. It begs the question whether the NAC is taken seriously by our government or it's a gathering meant to pass time?' Ndadi continued.

BONELA believes that the least that cabinet should have done was to call representatives of the NAC to make a case for provision of condoms in prisons.