Maseru, May 23 — The Officer Commanding Correctional Service Training School, Assistant Commissioner Lipholo Nthako says he is confident that the Recruits, who recently passed out are competent to execute their duties although some courses were not included in the curriculum.
These, he said when testifying before the commission of inquiry on the incidents that occurred at Maseru Central Correctional Institution (MCCI) on December 21 and 22, 2023.
He indicated that the curriculum that he was given was different from the one used previously, saying this new one included 19 subjects and the time given to complete the training was limited as they were given six months.
He said his wish was to include other subjects such as criminal law and administrative law but could not make a proposal as it was indicated in the meeting they attended earlier that the previous curriculum will not be merged with the new one.
He further said for the training to be done in the right manner and not focus mainly on physical training, it should be a year so that six months should be used to concentrate on academic subjects and allocate another one for physical training.
” The training took nine months for recruits who recently graduated,” he said.
Asked if he was happy with the training, he said no as some of the things like educational materials were not provided to recruits after lectures.
” The Recruits were still going to graduate whether I was happy or not,” he added.
Meanwhile, Assistant Commissioner Nthako is still under oath.
The Commission of Inquiry, which is Chaired by Justice Realeboha Mathaba was established with the objective to investigate the circumstances that led to the escape and assault of inmates which resulted in the death of one inmate leaving the other paralyzed in December last year at MCCI.
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