Prisoners Can Feed Namibia

THE Namibian Correctional Services (NCS) has done well over the years in executing its primary objective; safe custody.

Other key objectives like Rehabilitation and Re-integration were also added to the mandate of the NCS, which are currently not realised.In as much as the department is excelling in certain areas, there are other key areas that are neglected. Allow me to briefly lay this out.The NCS is currently housing a prison population of about 5 000 offenders. Millions of dollars go to food allocations annually. However, I think that central government can actually spend less money on food for offenders should the NCS management sit around a table and engage relevant stakeholders in productive discussions and map out a route to realise that.The NCS boasts two fully fledged farms apart from the Hardap and Oluno pig farms. My focus for now is on the Divundu Rehabilitation Centre east of Rundu. Divundu boasts a huge maize plantation. The Divindu rehabilitation centre can be a breadbasket for the entire prison population and many Namibians at the same time. There is machinery in place at Divundu rehab centre which are used to process maize meal from its initial stage to the final stage. Divundu has the capacity to supply maize meal to all correctional institutions, hospitals and police stations, only if proper planning and enough resources are pumped into the project. NCS has an advantage of cheap labour (offenders), as long as they are not exploited. In my opinion, central government should allocate more funds and land (farms) to the NCS to produce more maize and vegetables and subsequently supply schools in rural areas with fresh produce.Farm Du Plessis, a farm belonging to the government is situated approximately 90km north of Gobabis along the Otjinene road. That farm was once an oasis of fresh garden produce when it was owned by a commercial farmer. Currently the Ministry of Youth is using a portion of it for youth related activities. The land is simply under-utilised, why can’t NCS management request for that land and turn it into the second Divundu? Management of the NCS need to re-visit their plan of action (if it exists) and consider more productive initiatives to spend tax payers money. The NCS should start to follow in the footsteps of many other countries that have privatised and commercialised many of their institutions in order to generate revenue for the state. Many African countries have already opened talks with the general public and relevant stakeholders to commercialise some of their prison farms.The NCS management should start thinking outside the box. They should do away with the copy and paste strategy they are currently using, which in fact is taking them nowhere. They have the money and the capacity.AnonymousBy e-mail