By Francis H. Murray
The Sierra Leone Correctional Service (SLCS), in collaboration with its partners, are set to introduce a biometric registration for inmates in the provincial parts of the country.
In a meeting with the Director General of the Correctional Services in Freetown, Rita Wright, Director of Admin and Operations at Fix Solution, said that the project was ready to be implemented in Waterloo, Port Loko, Kenema, Makeni, Sefagu, and Bo Correctional centers.
According to a press release issued by SLCS on Wednesday, the National Inmates Identity Management Systems (NIIMS), which was launched on the 15th of January last year, is aimed at developing and managing data on inmates.
Prison authorities said the system had already been tested in the male and female correctional centers in Freetown.
The initiative which is sponsored by the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) is been implemented by Fix Solution. OSIWA is working with the Justice Sector Coordinating Office on the project.
Right said during the meeting that work was in progress to set up a situation room in Freetown which would monitor the work in all implemented areas.
“All the tools such as computers, internet dongles, fingerprint scanners, and camera have been made available already for ease of work. However, we still must install the NIIMS software in all the computers for the Centers up – country,’’ she was quoted in the SLCS press release.
She added that there was also the need to outsource regional supervisors and support staff who’re skilled in information technology to train and monitor NIIMS officers.
“Fix Solution will continue to do the cloud hosting of the data being generated from different Centres, and we will also develop the mobile app for the system as well,” Wright said.
Country Officer for OSIWA, Joe Pemagbi, praised the justice system in the country for embracing such a reform. He said they were looking for more funds to support the training of NIIMS officers.
“This initiative has now been taken to the Judiciary and the Police as well, to merge the work of the Justice - chain in Sierra Leone,” he said.
As he expressed appreciation to OSIWA and Fix Solution, the Director General of SLCS, Joseph Lamboi, said he looked forward to the expansion of the project.
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