03 Apr 2019

Parliament has passed a bill seeking to amend the Prisons Act by effecting an upwards review of the retirement ages of prisons officers.

Debating the bill on Tuesday before voting in its favour, most Members of Parliament held the view that the move would help improve the plight of prison officers as it would afford them the opportunity to accumulate better pensions.

MP for Nata-Gweta, Mr Polson Majaga welcomed the bill, saying government lost a lot of money in disciplined forces through training members and thereafter retiring them early before they could fully use their experience and expertise on serving the nation.

In addition, he said it was worth noting that the prison officers significantly contributed to the peace and stability of the country hence they needed to be treated better.

On a different matter, the MP said it was disappointing that to date, the prisons and the Ministry of Defence, Justice and Security headquarters were still housed in rented premises. He advised government to correct the anomaly.

The MP for Ghanzi North, Mr Noah Salakae said the current amendment was synonymous with government’s tendencies to adopt a piece-meal approach in addressing issues, saying that the retirement ages of prison officers ought to not have been staggered according to ranks when the Prisons Act was amended in 2017.

He also said what was necessary was not to increase the retirement age of officers, but rather to raise their salaries.

Mr Salakae noted that it would be difficult for a warder aged 62 to perform duties optimally hence government should instead have considered increasing salaries and not retirement ages.

The legislator for Francistown South, Mr Wynter Mmolotsi argued that it was unfair that prison officers were being treated differently from members of the BDF and the police service.

He appealed for them to be accorded the same respect that was being enjoyed by their counterparts in other security services.

Mr Mmolotsi also said prisons officers were being made to work under deplorable working conditions.

Contributing to the debate, Mahalapye West lawmaker, Mr Joseph Molefe said one of the things that government should aim to achieve was to have a young and active prisons service.

To attain this, he said it was crucial to not do away with the staggered retirement ages for members of the prisons department.

Specially elected Member of Parliament, Mr Mephato Reatile said in reviewing the act, it was vital that certain issues be noted such as the provision in the amendment to give the Commissioner of Prisons the prerogative to decide on whether or not to accede to applications for extension of years of service by retiring officers.

Mr Reatile suggested that instead of assigning the commissioner that responsibility, there should be a board or committee that could assess and make a determination on such applications.

Another matter needing attention, he said, was to put in place a ceiling regarding the number of years through which an officer’s term of service could be extended, saying the lack of a limit would in the long term prove to be a challenge.

Sefhare-Ramokgonami lawmaker, Ms Dorcas Makgato said there was nothing wrong with the upward adjustment of the retirement ages of prisons officers. Ends