ZIMBABWES OVERCROWDED PRISONS THREATEN JUSTICE SERVICE DELIVERY LOCAL prisons are overpopulated with the number of inmates having risen to above 17 000 exactly a year after 2000 others were granted a presidential pardon, permanent secretary Virginia Mabhiza has said. Mabhiza told delegates at a strategic planning workshop in Gweru this week that the situation posed a critical challenge to the justice delivery system. She said there was a need to come up with effective strategies to address the overcrowding in prisons. “The beginning of 2014 saw the granting of a presidential pardon to more than 2 000 prisoners which eased the overcrowding in our prisons,” Mabiza said. “However as at 31 December 2014, the prison population had risen once again to above 17 000 which is the holding capacity of our prisons.” She said that the situation was likely to continue this year unless drastic measures were employed to address the anomaly. Lack of food, insufficient access to medical care, blankets and clothing are some of the challenges faced by prisons, she said. “The overcrowding of the prisons poses a critical challenge for the ministry of justice. It is furthermore predictable that the challenge of overcrowding in our prisons will persist in 2015 and I therefore call upon us to ensure that we effectively strategise to overcome this challenge,” she said. VP Emmerson Mnangagwa who also doubles as justice minister said there was need to come up with cost cutting strategies in the prisons. He said such efforts required the cooperation of stakeholders such as the Judicial Service Commission. “For example, the building of court houses close to prisons would greatly limit the need for the transference of prisoners to court,” said Mnangagwa. “This would in the long term reduce the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services expenditure on fuel.” Overcrowding has for a long time been cited as a major problem facing the country’s prison services. But human rights organisations persist that the problems in the country’s 55 prisons are worse than has been revealed. Source-newzimbabwe
Posted on: Sat, 24 Jan 2015 05:13:40 +0000
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