Maseru, June 27– Lesotho Correctional Service (LCS) management forgets it is guided by Prison Act, Principles of Corrections and other regulations based on how it operates.
This is according to Senior Rehabilitation Officer Mrs. Mabakoena Mphou when testifying before the Commission Of Inquiry on the incidents that occurred at MCCI on December 22, 2023.
Mrs. Mphou said LCS management works according to themselves and party politics have infiltrated LCS.
She added that based on what she hears and feels as she works within LCS, officers are demotivated due to poor leadership, from top management to lowest officer, indicating that management ignores the framework used to promote people.
She also said officers utter words such as ” now they are putting these children above us”, saying rehabilitation is not working as it should and management undermines that department.
Mrs. Mphou further said some officers forget inmates are human beings and have rights such as right to freedom and life, indicating that not every officer seen on the footage is angry and if some were angry they were able to contain it.
Meanwhile Mrs.Mphou described the state in which the late Bokang Tsoako was in after being brutally assaulted by officers, saying the deceased looked tired and helpless and that something was bending on his body which seemed as if it is a rib or spinal cord indicating that that she was surprised that he was able to walk himself to the wheelchair.
The Commission Of Inquiry on the escape of inmates, which is Chaired by Justice Realeboha Mathaba is continuing to interrogate officers who appear on the footage when the late Bokang Tsoako and Seboka Motumi were brutally assaulted.
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