Money problems leave prison officials vulnerable to bribery, corruption

Home affairs, immigration, safety and security minister Albert Kawana says he is aware of many challenges faced by both new and current officers, such as financial problems which often render them vulnerable to inmate manipulation and eventually perpetrators of bribery and corruption.

Kawana was speaking at the 30th correctional service administration and operations course graduation ceremony at Omaruru’s Lucius Mahoto Correctional Service Training College last week.

“It happens from time to time that prohibited items are smuggled in to correctional facilities by officers. This then brings me to my message to the recruits under the theme of the event, ‘Deliver and Shine’,” Kawana said.

The first nine-month basic training intake of 2023, which commenced in March with a total of 373 recruits, comprising 246 men and 127 women, concluded with 359 graduates successfully completing the training. Meanwhile, 14 recruits did not complete the training, with six withdrawing on personal grounds, four dismissed due to disciplinary contravention, two as a result of pregnancy and two discharged.

Kawana said the graduation comes at the right time in terms of increasing the number of staff since the ministry and the Department of Correctional Service in particular, is expanding its footprint to all the regions in the country.

“We have acquired land at Kaoko-Otavi in the Kunene region and at Katima in the Zambezi region, for the purpose of establishing food production facilities, which will require correctional officers to man and maintain security.

The correctional facilities are not only meant to contribute to food security, but to also address the current state of correctional service facilities allocation in the country,” Kawana said.

These envisaged facilities will eventually address the challenge of transporting inmates from the Zambezi and Kunene regions to other regions, Kawana added.

The state of affairs currently is not only costly and a security risk, but also subjects inmates to serve their sentences far from their families, which is against the principles of rehabilitation and reintegration.

Kawana said there was no budgetary provision made for recruitment during the 2022/23 financial year.

“Therefore, I commend the Namibian Correctional Service (NCS) for its efforts in generating savings from the remuneration in the 2022/23 financial year which has enabled us to recruit the current graduates,” he said.

Kawana added that the NCS is faced with many challenges.

“Shortages of human power, security equipment, uniforms, transport and accommodation are but some of the critical challenges we are faced with which often negatively impact the morale of officers.

However, correctional service officers are urged to refrain from engaging in illegal activities such as smuggling unauthorised articles to the inmates or allowing escapes whether through negligence or intent.”

NCS commissioner general Raphael Hamunyela said working in the NCS requires dedication, integrity and a strong sense of responsibility towards the safety, security and rehabilitation of individuals within the correctional system.

“Conduct yourselves in appropriate manner as security officers, that won’t compromise your reputation or career. Correction officers should remain disciplined and treat inmates with humanity,” he said.

“This is to complement and is preceded by the theoretical aspect which covers local and international laws applicable to the correctional service, human rights, inmate manipulation, report writing, principles of rehabilitation, gangsterism and many others that are delivered in class for over seven months,” Hamunyela added.

This was done with the purpose of accommodating a well-structured practical aspect of training in which recruits are exposed to the various areas at correctional service facilities, he said.

Hamunyela commended the heads of correctional services from Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Zambia and Zimbabwe for attending the ceremony.

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