The Annual Regional Conference of Heads of Corrections, Prisons, and Penitentiary Services took place from 28–30 May 2025 in Dar es Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania. The conference was held under the theme: “Intelligence Gathering for Early Warning: The Role of Corrections/Prisons in the SADC Peace and Security Architecture.”
This important gathering brought together Commissioners General and senior prison officials from across the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. The conference serves as a strategic platform for advancing prison reform initiatives, with a particular focus on enhancing intelligence gathering to support the regional Early Warning System in response to evolving security dynamics.
The conference was supported by the Enhancing the Capabilities and Effectiveness of SADC’s Peace and Security Architecture (ECESPA) Programme, an initiative funded by the European Union (EU) that aims to strengthen peace-building efforts across the SADC region.
In his opening remarks, Commissioner General of the Tanzania Prison Service, Mr. Jeremiah Yoram Katungu, emphasised the importance of building on previous engagements to address the region’s pressing corrections-related challenges. He reaffirmed the core mandate of corrections institutions rehabilitation, social reintegration, and behavioural transformation ensuring that inmates return to society as responsible, law-abiding citizens. He also underscored the importance of regional collaboration in advancing prison reform.
Representing the SADC Secretariat, Professor Kula I. Theletsane, Director of the Organ on Politics, Defence, and Security Affairs, highlighted the critical relevance of the conference theme. He noted that intelligence from correctional facilities remains an underutilised resource in the region. Correctional institutions, he stressed, are not merely centers for incarceration but are also strategic hubs for security intelligence and crime prevention. He called for the integration of corrections into the broader security architecture, emphasising that doing so is essential to promoting regional stability.
The conference was officially opened by the Deputy Minister for Home Affairs of the United Republic of Tanzania, Honourable Daniel Baran Sillo. In his keynote address, Honourable Sillo noted that the theme was both timely and urgent and effectively addressed key issues facing the corrections sector. He reiterated that well-managed, secure prisons are vital to effective rehabilitation and highlighted the importance of providing education, vocational training, life skills, and substance abuse programmes to inmates.
He also cautioned that rehabilitation alone is insufficient if ex-offenders return to communities where they face stigma and rejection. He therefore called for stronger partnerships with local communities to ensure successful reintegration, reduce recidivism, and promote inclusive, restorative justice.
The conference further reviewed progress in implementing the Corrections/Prisons Strategic Plan (2021–2025) and emphasised the need for establishing a Corrections/Prisons Integrated Information Management System to enable data comparability and enhance institutional effectiveness.
Among key recommendations adopted at the 2025 Conference were:
Development of Guidelines on Intelligence Gathering in Correctional Services to strengthen the ability of correctional institutions to detect and address risks related to inmate behavior, contraband trafficking, and potential violent incidents.
Design of Context-Specific Training Programmes, focusing on intelligence management and deradicalization strategies tailored to correctional environments.
Enhanced Inter-Agency Collaboration and Intelligence Sharing between correctional services and national security agencies to improve threat detection and response.
