30 Aug 2023

Ex-offender, songwriter and poet, Mr Ditiro Leero, 40, has praised the rehabilitation and reintegration programmes implemented by Botswana Prison Service (BPS).

Speaking at a session of the BPS national reintegration conference in Tlokweng yesterday, Mr Leero said he realised that prisons operated independently from the courts, and that they existed to execute instructions from the courts.

He praised the presence of counsellors and social workers at institutions of incarceration.

He also noted that there were mentors and trainers in carpentry, agriculture, horticulture, sports, arts and culture.

Mr Leero, who was charged with rape in 2012, said he had since realised that prison services had made significant strides in terms of changing their way of operation and cultivating processes toward achieving a sound rehabilitation and reintegration programme.

He said most of the services offered at prisons dealt with mental health promotion and equipping inmates with basic entrepreneurship skills.

He advised those incarcerated to have a relationship with other prisoners and prison officials for a fruitful offender rehabilitation and reintegration process.

He said prisons had their procedures and mandates, which leaned toward safeguarding society from crime and changing the behaviour of offenders to live normal crime-free lives.

He also said prisons had special dispensations for different offenders.

Mr Leero said those studying were assisted to complete their education and that some were given the opportunity to learn through institutions such as Madirelo Testing Centre, which arrangement demonstrated that prisons were eager to see a positive change in the lives of inmates.

Mr Leero also appreciated that  inmates were assisted when going through grieve and that some were facilitated to attend funerals of close family members.

He added that ill convicts were allowed to consult medical doctors, adding that whenever medication was insufficient, convicts were assisted from all health facilities.

Mr Leero also advised inmates that society was ready to accept them back and that offenders had to accept themselves and reform.

He said some convicts who studied Theology while in prison were accepted as pastors.

Mr Leero also said he occasionally got engaged by the prison department to perform while incarcerated, which gave him hope and developed him mentally and physically.

The conference was themed: Sustainable Reintegration; Key to a crime-free Botswana, and delegates attended from as far as Singapore. ENDS