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Brighton Gumbo Chronicle Reporter
THE Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda has ordered the release of two foreign girls aged 12 and 13 from Chikurubi Maximum Prison on the outskirts of Harare. The girls were detained after immigration authorities found them in the country without travel documents last year. One of the girls is from Burundi and the other is from the Congo.
Mudenda spoke about the issue during a Joint Sensitisation workshop for Parliamentarians and business executives in Bulawayo on Saturday. He said the “imprisonment” of the girls was against the Geneva Convention. “I’m touched by the detention of the two girls at Chikurubi and I ask the immigration department to release them from prison and hand them over to the social services,” said Mudenda.
Harare legislator Ronia Bunjira said she saw the girls on a visit to Chikurubi Maximum Prison last year and was disturbed by the treatment they were receiving from prison officers. “I noticed the girls at the prison. The way they were being treated by prison officers was gruesome,” she said. Bunjira said on inquiry, she was told that the juveniles were from the Great Lakes Region and were held by the immigration department after they were found without proper travel documents.
“I was told the girls were from Burundi and Congo and had been handed over by the immigration department for failing to produce documents necessary for travel,” she said. The immigration department representative Prosper Kambarami said lack of funding to facilitate the deportation of foreigners found without proper travel documents was the reason why there was a delay in the transportation of detainees to their countries. “We’ve detained a total of 623 foreigners since January this year and compared to other neighbouring countries like South Africa and Botswana, the number is far less. The reason (why they are still in the country) is lack of funding since such deportations can’t be done by road,” said Kambarami. “Currently there are over 100 people who are detained and awaiting deportation.”
Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services spokesperson Elizabeth Banda-Karinda yesterday said she was not aware of the issue. “I’m not aware of the detention of the juveniles and I’ve to confirm before I can comment,” she said. Banda-Karinda said ill-treatment of inmates by prison officers is against the law and victims should report to the officer-in-charge. Home Affairs minister Ignatius Chombo could not be reached for comment.
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