Five Rwandan senior correctional officers, on Friday, December 6, graduated after completing a year-long senior management and leadership training program at institutions in Zimbabwe. The graduation took place in Zimbabwe during an official visit that Commissioner General of Rwanda Correctional Service (RCS) Evariste Murenzi carried out in the country, in line with the existing partnership between Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service (ZPCS) and RCS. ALSO READ: Rwanda, Zimbabwe correctional services commit to sharing best practices The function was attended by among other guests Rwanda’s ambassador to Zimbabwe James Musoni, and Zimbabwe’s Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Ziyambi Ziyambi. This was the second intake of the Senior Management Development Course in Corrections (SMDCC) of which among the 44 participants, five were coming from the RCS. The officers who graduated were awarded with accolades like Diploma in Entrepreneurship and Leadership from Zimbabwe Open University, Certificate in Prison Administration and Management from Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service Staff College and Basic Certificate in Ideology from Chitepo School of Ideology. “This milestone reflects a commitment for Rwanda Correctional Service through the Government of Rwanda to continue enhancing on correctional best practices, knowledge sharing and training through both regional and international cooperation,” read a statement from RCS. ALSO READ: PM Ngirente tips Rwanda correctional service cadets on professionalism, integrity During the same official visit to Zimbabwe, it is expected that Murenzi and his delegation will carry out a benchmarking visit to Marondera Female Open Correctional Institution and Mazoe Farm Prison with the purpose of exchanging experience and best practices in rehabilitation, reformation and reintegration processes of Inmates through open space prisons which is linked to the halfway social reintegration centers that are soon to be operationalized in Rwanda. The cooperation between the two countries’ correctional services is stipulated in the signed Memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Cooperation in the field of Prisons/Correctional Services in March 2021 in Harare between the government of Rwanda and the government of Zimbabwe through their respective ministers of justice. In March 2023, the Commissioner General of Zimbabwe Prisons Service, Moses Cyril Ngawaite Chihobvu and his team carried out a benchmarking visit to Rwanda and among the areas of interest to Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service was on the use of Biogas in Correctional Facilities since it reduces highly on the government budget earmarked for correctional facilities.
