The Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church has strengthened its partnership with the Namibian Correctional Service (NCS) to help rehabilitate inmates and reduce reoffending.
This, SDA says, is because spiritual guidance and counselling are key to national security.
This was said on Saturday during the launch of the Public Affairs and Religious Liberty Day by the Namibia South Conference of the SDA Church.
The event, hosted by SDA, reaffirms cooperation between the church and the correctional service in supporting rehabilitation, reintegration and moral transformation of inmates across Namibia. NCS Commissioner General Raphael Hamunyela was unable to attend as he was attending the State funeral of late liberation struggle hero Mathias Kanana Hishoono. He was represented by Commissioner Johannes Muyemburuko, who delivered his remarks. In his message, Hamunyela said the partnership with the SDA church is long-standing and built on shared values of dignity, compassion, justice, and restoration.
“The SDA church has remained a trusted partner through pastoral counselling, Bible studies, religious instruction and acts of compassion in our correctional facilities. These interventions are vital, for inner transformation must precede lasting behavioural change,” Hamunyela said. He added that faith-based engagement has helped create calmer correctional environments, improved inmate behaviour, and strengthened moral awareness among offenders.
Hamunyela also highlighted the importance of supporting correctional officers, who often work in high-stress and traumatic conditions. Speaking at the launch, Director of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty, Education and Senior Youth of the Namibia South Conference, Earle Sinvula Mudabeti, said the church remains committed to supporting the correctional service’s mandate.
“The Seventh-day Adventist Church reaffirms and recommits to continue working closely with the Namibian Correctional Service in providing spiritual guidance, care and support to inmates, thereby contributing to national security,” Mudabeti said.
He said the church will continue deploying trained pastors to correctional facilities and offer specialised skills to correctional officers.
“We will offer highly sought-after skills to correctional service members in the areas of counselling, behaviour control and strategic leadership to enhance their capacity in handling inmates,” he said. Hamunyela further stressed that rehabilitation must continue beyond prison walls, warning that stigma and rejection of former offenders often lead to reoffending.
“Rehabilitation does not end at the correctional facility gate,” he said, urging churches and communities to promote reintegration, second chances, and skills development to help former inmates become productive citizens.