The Namibian Correctional Services has announced the implementation of Community Service Orders (CSO), a non-custodial sentencing option in which an offender serves his or her sentence by performing a specified number of hours of unpaid community service.

Speaking at a media conference on Friday at Mariental in the Hardap Region, NCS Commissioner-General Raphael Hamunyela said the option for sentencing is intended for offenders who have minor offences and will be implemented in three Magistrates of Mariental, Malthahöhe, and Aronos.

Following the lead of many other magisterial districts, the roll-out comes shortly after CSOs were implemented in Otjiwarongo during the fiscal year 2021/2022 and in the ||Kharas region during the fiscal year 2020/2021.

The CSOs, he said has the potential to save the government much-needed resources by lowering the costs of custodial care.

‘CSO also allows offenders to be managed in the community and ensures that they repay the community for the harm or damage they have caused by providing unpaid work to the benefit of the community, while also positively contributing to the well-being of their families by maintaining employment and family relationships,’ he said.

According to him, the program allows the offender to see firsthand the indirect harm caused by their offences and take some responsibility for their actions.

‘While NCS is proud to have brought the initiative to the Hardap region, we seek the support and commitment of all stakeholders in the region and beyond to ensure that those who are able to access CSO as a sentencing option do so,’ he said.

Hamunyela stated that they have so far managed to roll out CSO to 34 of the targeted 43 courts, representing 79 per cent progress made in accordance with the NCS strategic plan, adding that it is obvious that the very existence of CSO is dependent on the meaningful involvement and participation of all relevant stakeholders.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency