First Lady weeps in prisoners’ meeting

TEARS were streaming down First Lady Monica Geingos’ cheeks as she sat and listened to prisoners at the Windhoek Correctional Facility on Wednesday.

As part of her efforts to get to the root causes of gender-based violence, Geingos met prison authorities but also engaged those convicted of murder, rape and robbery, among others. She toured the prison complex, formerly known as Windhoek Central Prison.

“As we mourn the senseless and brutal killings of women and young girls, I came here today to get to the root causes. If we understand the perpetrators, we will be able to protect a lot of victims. We all have self-destructive behaviours and we all have the right to be listened to. Things cannot go on the way they are right now. Today I hope to engage some of the inmates to hear their side of the story,” Geingos said.

Prison social worker and deputy commissioner Patience Kake said the highest number of inmates at the facility are between the ages of 31 and 40 years.

A presentation by prison officials to the First Lady showed that the facility with seven housing units has a population of 872 people, of which 745 inmates have already been sentenced and they are serving their terms, while 127 are awaiting their trials.

“Some of the people who are supposed to be the most productive in society are here,” Kake said.

Prisoners between the ages of 31 and 40 make up 38% of the prison population, while the 21 to 30-year-olds make up 33%.

Most offenders are Namibians (829), while 43 are non-Namibians, said Kake.

Commissioner general of the Namibian Correctional Service Raphael Tuhafeni Hamunyela said it was the first time that a First Lady had visited the facility.

“Thank you for coming through. Sometimes we feel like orphans because no one really cares [about] what we do. But we have a big responsibility to rehabilitate and reintegrate the inmates. So yes, we want to introduce different programmes to help the inmates be better people when they leave this facility,” Hamunyela said.

Officials briefed Geingos on the different programmes the inmates go through and said most of the inmates cannot read or write.

“We are proud of you; keep up the good work. Before I leave today I hope to discuss different topics with the inmates. I believe many people who are here were not supposed to be here, had we listened and seen the signs when they showed them. I also understand and I am well aware that there are sociopaths and psychopaths who cannot be helped. Those that we can save, we must,” said Geingos.