Prisons serious about rehabilitation

MANY people have a misconception that if an offender lands in prison, he/she learns new tricks and turns into a hardened criminal as prison has long been called the ‘university of crime’.

This is the perception the Namibia Correctional Services (NCS) wants to change by introducing different programmes for offenders to acquire different skills throughout serving their terms.

About a month ago, The Namibian crew visited the Windhoek Correctional Facility which was built in 1963 to accommodate about 900 inmates. Today, the facility is home to about 1 300 inmates.

Statistics from the NCS show that as on 13 October, there were 4 041 offenders in custody nationwide, 3 941 of whom are male. We arrived at the Windhoek facility around 09h00, and the encounter was mysterious: we were not sure if we were feeling terrified or excited.

My colleague and I were questioning ourselves on why we insist on covering institutions like prisons, because anything can happen there.

We were welcomed by deputy commissioner Meunajo Tjiroze, who is responsible for the mental health and special needs of offenders’ division.

At the entrance was an ambulance, picking up a well-known inmate. He immediately asked not to be photographed, and we obliged.

Our tour started when we were taken to the back of the facility, where they plan on building an aquaponics system. There, we found seven inmates and two guards.

At least the atmosphere in the garden was calm after Tjiroze explained that the offenders assigned there are those who had committed non-violent crimes like stock theft.

One such inmate is 29-year-old Piet Josef, who is serving four years for stock theft. He said he has been in prison for over a year now.

“While I was awaiting trial and before sentencing to the big prison, I was terrified by all the stories we heard about prison life. But when I got here, it was a whole different experience . . . I am learning every day.

“Although being in prison is not good at all, what I appreciate is the things I am exposed to, like counselling and the importance of crop planting. I now know how to read and write, which as a San person I did not know when I came here,” Josef explained.

Tjiroze added that the correctional facility attempts to create conducive environments “where offenders can begin to learn skills, adopt new approaches to cope with daily problems of living, and change their anti-social attitudes.”

He said the directorate of rehabilitation and reintegration comprises six divisions to cater for the different rehabilitative needs of different offenders.

“These divisions are the psychological services, programmes and counselling, education and vocational training, case management services, religious care, and community corrections. In these divisions, different programmes and training are conducted. When an offender is sentenced to a custodial term, they do not go straight to the different sections. We first evaluate them,” explained Tjiroze.

Before she took us to the units for offenders who committed the most serious crimes, the officer first took us to the soccer field where the offenders had a soccer game on.

At this point, we were relaxed, and thought life in here was not as bad as we had believed.

Of the 3 941 male offenders, 597 were incarcerated for murder, 638 for rape, 644 for assault and 194 for attempted murder.

Three men make the least number of offenders, and are serving time for uttering and forging documents, while four men are in for fraud and violating a dead body.

Tjiroze said there is a perception that offenders who commit minor offences become worse when they are kept with offenders who committed serious crimes.

She said this is not the case, as sentenced offenders go through the reception and assessment unit to determine their risk factors.

“In our case, we make sure first-time offenders in for minor crimes like stock theft and forging documents, for instance, will not share a unit with inmates who committed rape or murder. After thorough and careful psychological evaluation, based on the high-risk factors, we know who to send to high and low-security levels,” said Tjiroze.

We met Christiaan Rooi (*not his real name) at the reception and assessment unit, where he was visited by his long-time girlfriend and his eight-month-old baby. He was jailed for common assault. After he was done talking to his family, we asked for a short interview. He was reluctant at first, but later agreed.

“Please do not show my baby’s face in the newspaper; I do not want them to be judged for what I did. I am not proud of being in here as a father, son, brother and as boyfriend to my girlfriend. It hurts me that I am putting them through this. I am here for only two weeks, and I am hoping I get out here a better man, but I fear that this prison will change me,” an emotional Rooi said.

It was time to go to the high-security unit. We were escorted by five prison ­warders. We had to go through two cell doors, and at the last one leading to the unit, my heart started beating fast, inducing heavy breathing. The offenders were locked in their cells, and there was an unusual silence in the unit. When I asked why, one warder said these men in here do not talk much. “They are very serious and dangerous, make no mistake about it”, he said.

Some of the inmates are serving double life sentences, most are in for murder and rape, and others others even commit crimes while incarcerated and plan new ones which they will commit once they are released.

A significant number of offenders lack the necessary literacy skills to gainfully participate in rehabilitation programmes and effectively function in the modern-day knowledge-based economy. Most offenders obtain their Grade 12 qualification and tertiary level qualifications while at the facility.

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