FRANCISTOWN - Minister for Defence, Justice and Security, Mr Dikgakgamatso Seretse, has called on Botswana Prisons and Rehabilitation Services officials in the northern region to refrain from activities that could defeat justice.

Addressing senior officials from all the prisons in the northern region last week, Minister Seretse said the frequency at which prisoners escaped from custody was a cause of concern. He attributed the escapes to officers laxity saying he did not understand how prisoners manage to take weapons, cell phones and other prohibited means of communication into the prisons, it means you pretend not to see what is happening.

He lashed out at the officers saying he will not tolerate the behaviour adding that it also compromised the security of officers.

If you allow cell phones and other prohibited means of communication, then you are sitting on a time bomb because crime syndicates will start to breed in the prisons, said the minister.

He emphasised that those who have evil ways must correct them, magolegwa ba sia jang ebile ba sa le golafatsa ebile lo sa ba bona? He implored them to make self introspections and find out if they still did the job that they promised to do, adding that superiors must not blame their juniors because if they were failing in their duty then as supervisors they must not ignore the problem.

The minister, who was also welcoming the prisons department to his ministry from the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs, informed his audience that evaluation was going to be done for each department and each department must not score below 90 per cent for the ministry to attain 90 per cent.

Minister Seretse stressed that he expected all department in his ministry to perform.

I am not used to failure therefore if you fail me you will feel me negatively at all levels and if you do well then you will feel me positively, he said.He cautioned that failure to do ones job would lead to dismissal, saying the nation will rather have a small committed and disciplined prisons services rather than a large indisciplined and non-committed one.

Mr Seretse urged his audience that they must perform despite challenges, adding that their efficiency was not determined by what the government was doing for them.

You can improve on your training if you feel that is where your problem is and you must continuously be abreast with what is happening on similar institutions.

He warned them that depending entirely on the government will impoverish the country.

Mr Seretse cautioned his audience that he would not tolerate indiscipline citing that there were instances where officers ran to the media to complain about their welfare and rights instead of using the right channels of communication.Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Prisons, Colonel Silas Motlalekgosi said challenges at his department included inefficient organisational structure, poor staff accommodation, overcrowding in the prisons and shortage of human resource development and capacity. He however called on his officers to realise that despite the challenges, their mission comes first and therefore must be committed to their mandate and excellence.

In her vote of thanks, the divisional commander Senior Assistant Commissioner Shirley Oageng assured the minister of quality service delivery at all times and that her officers will go an extra mile in their service delivery. She called on officers to adhere to their code of conduct saying it would lead to effectiveness in their job.

Senior Assistant Commissioner Oageng implored her audience to learn from the failures that they had and to commit to change. BOPA