CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES OFFICERS COUNSELED
ZAMBIA Correctional Ser vice (ZCS) Commissioner General Frederick Chilu kutu has implored Officers in Charge of correctional facilities to be innovative in finding solutions to challenges facing the facilities.
Mr Chilukutu has charged that Officers in Charge has a duty and re sponsibility to discharge their duties diligently as expected.
He said that there is a need for Officers in Charge who are highly motivated, energetic, humanistic, ma ture, reflective and innova tive, Officers in Charge ca pable of relating well with, and bringing out the best in, their subordinates and inmates.
Speaking when he opened a five days and second peer-interaction workshop for Officers in Charge from the Zambia Correctional Service and the Namibian Correctional Service in Livingstone, Mr Chilukutu said that resolu tions that will be brought out must be able to give solutions to the challenges facing the two countries’ correctional facilities.
“May I now reaffirm the commitment of our two services to abide to high level decisions and to forge ahead the good relations and collaboration between our two countries and Ser vices,” he said
Mr Chilukutu said that the service requires Of ficers in Charge who are conversant and comforta ble with public accounting and budgeting, correction al management, mainte nance and operation of the physical and mechanical corrections infrastructure, public relations and legis lative politics.
He added that correc tional leaders ought to have a solid grounding in the scholarly and popular literature on leadership.
The Commissioner General said that the above illustrates the best prac tices of managing a cor rectional facility so that its inmates will conform to reasonable rules, achieve and maintain good mental and physical health and not victimize one another.
He said the reason be hind managing all of these including staff and the fa cility is to have a positive image for the Services in general and institutions in particular.
He said that the peer interaction training model offers professional devel opment specifically for Of ficers in Charge - a group often neglected when it comes to training and edu cation programmes.