Prisoners’ death rate soars

beginning of the year – mostly from contagious diseases such as malaria, TB and cholera.
“The death rate has continued to increase over the past seven months, with an average 100 deaths being recorded per month from prisons across the country,” says the information.
When contacted for comment through the telephone, an official at the ZPS headquarters in Harare said: “Where did you get that from? You have to come to our offices. We haven’t dealt with your paper before, so how can we do interviews over the phone?”
Zimbabwe has about 40 prisons accommodating an estimated 25 000 inmates and ZPS Commissioner General last year described the mortality rate in prisons as “a cause for concern” and attributed it to “corruption by prison officials that resulted in drugs worth $10,2 billion disappearing” which were meant for treatment of prisoners.
The Zimbabwean has also heard from insiders that the prisoners were suffering from serious food shortages with most of them showing clear signs of malnutrition. The ZPS is reportedly struggling with a lean budget and failing to provide basic requirements such as adequate shelter, clean water and food for the prisoners.
The Law Society of Zimbabwe described the prisons in the country as “death traps” after a tour and pointed at especially the poor hygienic standards coupled with overcrowding. – Itai Dzamara