Malawi: Prisoners sue gov't over food

  1. Posted on Tuesday 22 September 2009 - 15:43
    FRAZER POTANI
    Image of FRAZER POTANI
    Frazer Potani, AfricaNews reporter in Lilongwe, Malawi
    Four prisoners at the Maula Prison in the Lilongwe city of Malawi have dragged the Malawi Government to court for failing to provide them with adequate food and better conditions. Chrispin Sibande, a Principal Legal Officer with Malawi Human Rights Commission made the disclosure at a workshop.
    malawi prisoners
    The announcement follows Africa News’ investigative feature earlier this month highlighting how prisoners in Malawi are eating less food as compared to the former one party State of the late first president Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda.

    “Insufficient budgetary allocations to prisons are making it difficult for authorities to provide not just adequate but also nutritious food to inmates,” Blantyre City Assembly’s HIV/AIDS coordinator Lothiar Ngulube said.

    He disclosed that due to the increasing number of inmates in prisons, each prisoner eats 0.68g per day or less. Ngulube further disclosed that prisoners in the country are also struggling to get medical treatment when they get sick.

    “There is also shortage of medical personnel, Sexually Transmitted Infections drugs and lack of clinics in the country’s prisons,” he said.

    Earlier this year, Prisons Chief Commissioner Macdonald Chaona admitted that his office was struggling to effectively operate due to inadequate budget. Chaona disclosed that his office requested a $8,510,638 ( K1.2 billion) from government and got only $ 4,255,319
    (K600 million) and the money was too little to cater for all its operations including food, transport, medical treatment.

    President Bingu wa Mutharika has admitted his administration is aware that prisoners in Malawi were experiencing a lot of problems including inadequate food and congestion.

    He said to deal with the problems his government was encouraging prisoners to grow their own food to supplement State food supplies and will build new prisons in the country to ease congestion.

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