By Solomon Tembang Mforgham

Prison guards (warders) in Cameroon are threatening to free all prisoners if their working conditions are not improved.

The prison guards have given the government of Cameroon up until the end of January 2013 to better their working conditions or else they will fling open the doors of the prisons and free the prisoners. They had petitioned the Minister of Justice since 10 December 2012, denouncing their poor working conditions which they describe as inhuman and worsened by low pay . Some of the prison guards are said to earn as low as FCFA 40,000 a month.

In their five-page petition, they denounce corruption, nepotism and favouritism, which ,they said, have plagued recruitment into the corps over the years.

The prison guards said they wanted their corps to be independent and attached to the presidency like the police, military and other related corps and not attached to the Ministry of Justice . They are also demanding emoluments.

In 2006 and early 2007 when the prison guards went on strike the then Minister of Justice, Amadou Ali, threatened them and said their special status were being studied. But since then, the the prison guards say, nothing has been done.