Established in 2010, Rwanda Correctional Service (RCS) was the result of merging the former National Prisons Service and the Executive Secretariat of National Committee of Community Services as an alternative penalty to imprisonment.
RCS has transformed into an institution that rehabilitates inmates into more responsible citizens upon release.
During celebrations held yesterday, RCS Commissioner General, CG George Rwigamba explained that the institution has over the past ten years achieved a lot including expansion of prisons, revising inmates correction strategies and providing them with Mutuelle de Sante.
'We have expanded activities over the past ten years that we currently have 13 prisons. One of them is Nyagatare Juvenile Prison designed to meet human rights requirements. In the meantime, four new prisons were constructed and renovated many more. Before, prison infrastructures were old, small and lacking essentials to correct inmates appropriately,' he said.
The institution is also proud to have changed mindsets that prisons are no longer perceived for painful penalties but rather a chance for correction whereby inmates acquire different skills for survival as they are reintegrated in the community.
However, RCS says, inmates' transformed livelihoods should not give room for offenses.
Anastase Nabahire, the Justice, Reconciliation, Law and Order Sector Secretariat Coordinator in the Ministry of Justice who represented the Minister of Justice during the ceremony hailed RCS contribution in shaping inmates' behaviors and equipping them with different skills.
Since inception, RCS increased prison warders from 1000 to 2000.
As of today, Rwanda has 13 prisons accommodating over 75,000 inmates.
IGIHE
Source : https://en.igihe.com/news/article/rcs-celebrates-ten-year-anniversary
