About Us

Organisational Profile

The Sierra Leone Correctional Service (SLCS) came into being following the passing into law of the Sierra Leone Correctional Service Act 2014, which repealed the Ordinance of 1960 and put into extinction the Sierra Leone Prisons Service. This transition was not meant to be a matter of nomenclature, but of substance. Previous prison service had a punitive focus in its approach to dealing with inmates. The current structure was designed to institutionalize the process of Reformation, Rehabilitation and Reintegration of inmates, although the Act of 2014 only made provision “to establish the Sierra Leone Correctional Service, to introduce provisions for the organization and management of correctional centers and for other related matters.”

Our Mission

The Sierra Leone Correctional Service exists as part of an integrated justice system to protect society by keeping inmates in secure and humane conditions whilst encouraging and actively assisting in their rehabilitation and re-integration by a professional workforce.

Our Vision

Our vision is to provide a secure, caring and reliable service to inmates and society.

Our Philosophy

We are social engineers. We transform offenders of the law by reforming, rehabilitating and reintegrating them back into society where they can make meaningful contributions to the well-being society. We believe there is good in every one of us, including people who fall foul of the law. We believe everyone, if put under certain social pressures can make bad decisions. But we all have the capacity to rise above our mistakes and inspire change and social transformation where ever we find ourselves.

Our Core Values

The Sierra Leone Correctional Service (SLCS) operates under the following principles: “We respect and uphold the fundamental Human Rights of Inmates in the discharge of our duties, and strive to exceed the UN minimum standards for the treatment of Inmates. We keep Inmates in a healthy, safe and secure environment. We engage in programs that promote reformation and rehabilitation of Inmates and their reintegration into society. We create an effective security network to prevent escapes within and outside the Correctional Centre. We build good working relationships with other partners in the Justice Sector and other key stakeholders to promote fair access to justice. We develop our human resource capacity in order to achieve effective and efficient service delivery. We ensure equal opportunity for all.”

In summary, our core values are:
  • Respect: We recognize the dignity of everyone including inmates and try to treat people in this context.
  • Tolerance: We treat each other without prejudice, fear or favor
  • Justice: We exercise fairness and justice even when it is difficult to do so.
  • Truth: We stand for truth and vow to speak and live it at all times
  • Excellence: We strive to deliver an exceptionally superior service and constantly improve ourselves to deliver this more efficiently