06 Aug 2017

The work of the Botswana Prison Service has been described as critical, hence the need for the discipline of employees of the prison service to remain unquestionable.

Debating a bill calling for a provision to withhold a portion of the salaries of prisons officers on interdiction to be done away with, Mahalapye West MP, Mr Joseph Molefe said paying the officers their full salaries while on interdiction would breed lawlessness and indiscipline.

MP Molefe said it would also encourage other officers into willingly committing offences which warrant for one to be placed under interdiction with the full knowledge that they would still enjoy their full salaries whilst not on active duty.

The MP implored his colleagues to note that interdiction was a temporary measure with temporary setbacks; arguing that it was also worth noting that the negative effects of interdiction would not last the entire career of an officer.

Mr Molefe also stated that the commissioner of prisons had been empowered to assess and determine how little or how much of the salary of an officer on interdiction could be withheld looking at the officer’s level of indebtedness.

This, he said was done with intention to ensure that the officer did not suffer unbearably as a result of their debt burden.

MP Dikgang Makgalemele of Shoshong also did not support the bill.

Mr Makgalemele said what remained a cause for concern was the length of time it took for cases to be concluded.

He said an appeal had since been made to the Minister of Defence, Justice and Security that cases be expedited so that affected officers would not suffer the consequences of not receiving their full pay for long.

Mr Makgalemele therefore called on Parliament to reject the bill in its totality, observing that it was not necessary to adopt it as the minister had already assured Parliament that something was being done about the plight of all disciplined forces.

For his part, MP Buti Billy of Francistown East complained about the current arrangement of withholding part of the salary of an officer on interdiction, saying it was double punishment as interdiction was a form of punishment on its own.

The MP also expressed concern about the low salaries of members of the prison service, which he said were lower than those of members of the BDF and the Botswana Police Service.

That, he said was despite all the three being disciplined forces.

MP Billy however said it was necessary for the mover of the bill to have withdrawn it to give the minister the benefit of the doubt following assurances that something was already being done to improve the plight of prisons officers.

MP Noah Salakae of Ghanzi North noted that by not acceding to the proposed changes, government was discrediting the country’s disciplined forces.

He said resorting to denying an officer suspected of an offense their full salary was a way of admitting by government that the training offered to the members of the disciplined forces was incapable of inculcating the required level of discipline in members.

Mr Salakae also beseeched government to borrow a leaf from other jurisdictions.

He said in South Africa for instance, disciplined forces enjoyed greater freedom in that members were allowed to unionise, among others.

He also said members of disciplined forces there also did not have part of their salaries withheld while on interdiction.

MP Dr Phenyo Butale of Gaborone Central said the rejection of the bills seeking to improve the conditions of service of members of disciplined forces was proof that government did not care about the plight of Batswana.

Dr Butale said members of disciplined forces were being treated unfairly as their conditions of service were deplorable.

The MP added that the current arrangement impacted negatively on the morale of police officers and consequently on their level of service delivery.

What was sad, he noted, was that disciplined forces did not have a voice as they could not unionise; saying it was a pity therefore that government was denying them the basics due to humanity.

MP Samuel Rantuana of Ramotswa said upholding the current arrangement only served to further complicate the lives of prison officers whom he said were poorly paid in comparison with their counterparts at the BDF and the police service.

The MP said the conditions of service of members of the prison service were more cumbersome that those of members of the army and the police service.

Mr Rantuana said the police and BDF arrested criminals, who after being condemned to prison terms became the responsibility of prison officers for years.

The debate on the bill is set to continue. ENDS