INMATES at Mutare Remand Prison have bemoaned inhumane conditions characterised by lack of clean water, balanced diet, clothing, blankets and overcrowding, which is making the penitentiary a haven for disease.<\/p>\n
This came out during a media tour of the prison on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Inmates claimed they cannot sleep owing to overcrowding and complained about acute shortages of food and medicines.<\/p>\n
Member-in-charge of Mutare Remand Prison, Maplan Kakoto echoed the prisoners\u2019 plight and appealed for help.<\/p>\n
He said the facility was overcrowded because it was accommodating inmates from Mutasa, Nyanga and Mutare districts.<\/p>\n
He said the Mutare Remand Prison was holding nearly three times its carrying capacity of 175 inmates.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need help to be a real correctional service, but the government can\u2019t afford it alone, so we need partners, who can help in any way,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cCurrently, prisoners are overcrowded at Mutare Remand Prison. We have a holding capacity of 175 prisoners, but currently, we have at least 494, which is a big number. Mutare Farm Prison which can only take 320 offenders, has 414 inmates.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are surviving on borehole water and we are now appealing for water tanks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Water shortages are exacerbated by water rationing by Mutare City Council.<\/p>\n
One prisoner, who refused to be named, said they did not have enough space to sleep.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s difficult here. We are overcrowded. There is no space to sleep; sometimes we sleep seated,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are urging the government to come up with a solution, because we will continue to suffer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another prisoner bemoaned the poor diet and lack of medication at the facility.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur diet is not balanced. Sometimes we eat relish without cooking oil. We don\u2019t have adequate blankets and prisoners who are on anti-retroviral treatment are struggling to get medication,\u201d he said. The inmates also appealed for sporting equipment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
INMATES at Mutare Remand Prison have bemoaned inhumane conditions characterised by lack of clean water, balanced diet, clothing, blankets and overcrowding, which is making the penitentiary a haven for disease. This came out during a media tour of the prison on Saturday. Inmates claimed they cannot sleep owing to overcrowding and complained about acute shortages […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":2818,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[477,345,244,212],"class_list":{"0":"post-6324","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-all-news","8":"category-community","9":"tag-criminal","10":"tag-food","11":"tag-prisoners","12":"tag-water"},"yoast_head":"\n