By Yiep Joseph
Central Equatoria governor, Augustino Jadalla Wani, has promised to allocate farmland for prison service across the state.
Jadalla, who prioritized farming in most of the state activities, expressed that there is a need for everyone to embrace agriculture, including inmates.
In his address during the laying of the foundation stone for the construction of the Juba County prison in Luri on Friday, Jadalla promised to give land for prison service in all the counties to carry out necessary farming activities to boost production.
Jadalla stated that when given enough land, the prison service would be able to develop training facilities that would help in the transformation of inmates.
“The main task of prison service in Central Equatoria State is to keep inmates in safe custody and contribute to their development and eventually reformation and integration into society,” he said.
The governor said the state is ready to provide land for agriculture in six counties for the prison service.
“We will provide you with a piece of land where you can construct housing for the residents or the staff,” he said. “I urge the people of Juba County, as requested by the Director of Prison Service, to allocate a place for the staff.”
He emphasized that prison service staff need to be near the facility, stressing that the security of inmates remains important.
Jadalla emphasized the need for new facility construction and old facility maintenance for remembrance. He also appreciated the commitment of the prison service staff.
The governor’s promise came in after Juma Doka Legge, Director of Prison Service for Central Equatoria State, expressed inadequate land to expand prison services and its activities.
Doka revealed that out of six counties in the state, only two have operational prisons with inadequate land.
“Only Terekeka County has today 101 inmates and Yei County Prison has 94; the other four counties’ prisons are not functioning,” Doka said.
He explained that for the prison service to meet its goal of transforming inmates, it needs to have enough land for its staff and activities.
“The main task of prison service in Central Equatoria State is to keep inmates in safe custody and contribute to their development and eventually reformation and integration into society,” he said.