By Neo Kolane
The president of the Crime Prevention Rehabilitation and Reintegration of Ex-Offenders Association (CRROA) Nkalimeng Mothobi believes that Lesotho Correctional Service (LCS) does not fully reform its inmates.
CRROA is a grouping of ex-offenders whose focus is on crime prevention and the rehabilitation of convicts. They also assist in the reintegrating of released offenders into their respective communities.
Mothobi this week said although there are therapists who are doing their job professionally but there are not enough tools.
“The budget allocated for LCS therapist is little compared to the past years, but it is decreasing, looking particularly on education because therapy has many types.
“The government does not have money to help the incarcerated with the planks when they do wood work. The other problem for LCS to be reformed is that the inmates are always not fed nutritious food and now that it is winter it cold for them due to lack of warming devices. The living conditions are not suitable for them,” he said.
Mothobi revealed that the inmates who have no information on the government operations and the budget place blame on the LCS officers, accusing them of misusing the money set aside for the facility.
“The inmates should be reformed through counselling by the correctional service officers as they trust them,” he observed.
Mothobi also explained that there is no sufficient uniform forcing some inmates to wear their own clothing attire. He argued that it has been a long time since the problem of lack of proper uniform has been plaguing the facility.
He revealed that the United Nations law indicates that an incarcerated person is deprived only of his freedom while the other necessary needs should be provided sufficiently.
“The conditions of prisons are not favourable enough, but looking at Maseru Central, Leribe and Mohale’s Hoek prisons have been renovated but there are still no beds, people sleep on the floor. The rooms are not warm enough,
“The Qacha’s Nek, Berea, Quthing, Mokhotlong and Butha Buthe’s prisons are in a very dire state. They should have been demolished a long time ago in 2004 but the inmates still live in them and that puts their lives at a risk,” Mothobi disclosed.
The senior assistant commissioner of LCS, Phoka Scout, told this publication that prisons in Lesotho are not in their best condition, despite the outward appearance of the buildings it occupies which he said need refurbishment.
Scout explained that the inmates eat three meals a day. He said they are given maize meal, green leafy vegetables, lentils and beans and are served milk and meat once in a while.
He said some institution’s facilities rear pigs, chicken and rabbits and at times get the meat from them.
He said in other times they are given bread depending on allocated budget.
As a health care worker, Scout said that he is not satisfied and want more changes for satisfying conditions.
When addressing the issue of clothes, Scout said that LCS has introduced protective overalls to inmates to exchange with jerseys, trousers and shirts. He said those who have not been found guilty have to put on their own clothes brought by the family members.
Scout was not impressed that some convicts have to put on torn uniform due to shortfall in funding.
