Probe prison unrest

We call on the relevant authorities to institute an urgent inquiry into the unfortunate incident – which raised numerous questions that need answers.

Firstly, the inquiry must seek to establish the present conditions under which prisoners live at Chikurubi and in other prisons nationwide. We hear that the rioting prisoners had for a long time complained about the poor food rations, with the authorities hardly paying attention to their grievances. The inquiry team must investigate the reasons behind the prison officials’ failure to act to avert the tragic riot. There is need to establish why the situation has been allowed to deteriorate to such an extent.

We don’t understand why the prisoners must suffer food problems when the correctional services department has several farms across the country. Why are the farms not being put to productive use – as they were in the past? Is there any agricultural activity going on at those farms? Have some high ranking officials perhaps taken over the land for personal gain? Surely, even if government cannot provide enough money for rations and the running of the farms, there are many non-state agencies that are willing to help.

We would also like to know if the department has adequate policies to ensure food security and other essential services in the future. Even if there are blueprints, it remains possible that there is no will on the part of management to transform the policies into practical action. For a long time, there have been concerns around adverse conditions at the prisons. Why, then, have the relevant authorities failed to address the issue?

It seems the correctional services department is being run in a loose manner. It boggles the mind how the prison guards were disarmed by the prisoners. This clearly shows that the authorities are lax about security. Just a few prison warders were deployed to monitor and control such a huge number of prisoners. There is also the possibility of corruption and connivance among the guards. It remains possible that some of them knew whatwas going to happen but, for favours of one kind or another, let the situation get out of control. We have had reports of a similar nature in the past, whereby guards connived with prisoners to stage jail escapes.

The inquiry team must then come up with solid recommendations on what actions and strategies to adopt not only to avert similar tragedies in the future, but also to ensure that the prisons become humanely habitable.