Sierra Leone News: Biometric registration for inmates

Politics

The Sierra Leone Correctional Service (SLCS) will in 2018 introduce the biometric registration of all inmates and they will be supplied with different colours of uniforms depicting their category. “We will identify them with different colours for the condemned, lifers, trials, remands and convicted, this is a first step towards classification,” said D.K. Harman, Director of Human Resource at SLCS. In submitting their budget proposal for 2018, the Director General, Sanpha Bilo Kamara, said, “As at Friday 18 August 2017, the inmate population was 4,135 including 129 females. “My department has been reporting on overcrowding during past reports. Earlier this year a nationwide assessment was done and an Accommodation Master Plan was put in place. A prison court commenced to address the issues of inmates that have been held for a considerably long period without trial, it is expected that this exercise will help in decongesting our centres.” “The Freetown, Bo and Kenema male correctional centres are severely overcrowded, with a high staff attrition and lack of vehicles to convey inmates to court, hospital or other correctional centres,” he said. He went on to say that they are currently supporting the Bail and Sentencing Guidelines executed by the Judiciary and the Criminal Procedure Bill, which will lead to alternate sentencing methods. To strengthen the revenue generating capacity of the SLCS, an assessment was done on the existing facilities with a view to engage in full-scale industries. Potential areas of interests were agriculture in Mafantra, Mattru Jong, Kenema, Kabala, Moyamba, Pujehun and Magburaka (crop and animal farming), brickwork, tailoring, carpentry, welding, printing, shoe making, laundry services and embroidery. “We have developed an industry master plan which will determine the capacity of the resources at the disposal of the Service, which can be used to generate revenue for the State. 230 inmates have been trained in various vocational skills and adult literacy,” said Kamara. Kamara said that managing mentally deranged inmates is a serious concern and that they also lack appropriate facilities to keep medical drugs. “The absence of child-friendly centres in Freetown, Bo and Kenema correctional centres is worrying, but we are actively considering developing these centres across to fully take care of children and babies.” Due to the boundary delimitation, the Service is to establish a north-west regional headquarter and to construct two correctional centres in Falaba and Karene. The facilitators commended the SLCS for their proposal and applauded them for their effort in taking good care of the inmates as one of them recalled, “In a recent visit to one of the centres I found out that the inmates looks healthier than the correctional officers.” Questions about welfare of their officers were raised; Harman, Director of Human Resources, responded that they are being taken care of. He pleaded for more and timely budgetary support in line with terms and conditions. “We have now been granted permission to recruit 982 additional officers; we hope that the issue of our welfare will be looked into.” ZJ/22/8/17 By Zainab Joaque Wednesday August 23, 2017.

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