09 May 2016

The deputy permanent secretary of Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism, Mr Felix Monggae has implored inmates to take advantage of the services that are rendered by his Ministry in order to improve their lives after serving their term of sentence.

Mr Monngae said this at a community service day which was hosted by the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism in partnership with the Hospitality and Tourism Association of Botswana and the Botswana Prison Service where presentation of business opportunities were made for women prisoners.

He said the community service was a special day which was initiated by the government of Botswana to allow all employees of all sectors including the leadership to take time off their busy work schedules every month to be with communities around them.

“All these efforts are towards sustainable development. As the Ministry we recognise that there is no way in which the country can attain sustainable development without any consideration and regard for communities living around us,” he said.

Mr Monggae said change will always occur in ‘our lives’, even if we have not planned for it and that the only sustainable way to cope with it is to prepare for it by gathering all the relevant information as much as possible so as to respond and adapt to a variety of situations encountered. 

“We will then make presentations on opportunities which inmates could use to change their lives,” he said.

He said they have also made an effort to donate as individuals, teams, toiletry and baby clothing to the tune of P5500.00 as a gesture of recognising that inmates had basic needs which was a subset of a compassionate, just and caring nation.

On his part, when giving welcome remarks, the Divisional Commander, South, Senior Assistant Commissioner, Patrick Monkutlwatsi said  the mandate of Botswana Prisons Service was to rehabilitate lawbreakers.

He said Prisoners are offered training in various trade skills to make them competitive in the labour market after being release from prison in an effort to reduce the incidence of crime and re-offending.

“Successful rehabilitation of prisoners had a positive effect on increased chances of reintegration of ex-prisoners back into society and reduction of repetition of criminal activities,” he said.

He thanked the ministry for having accorded the inmates the opportunity to share and interact with them with the hope that such information shall have an everlasting impact in their lives. ENDS