adminDaniel Nemukuyu Investigations and Special Reports Editor
WATER and maize-meal shortages have hit the country’s crowded prisons, endangering the health of those jailed, especially in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Most prisons are getting erratic water supplies from local authorities, while several back-up boreholes are drying up, making it difficult or impossible to maintain required hygiene standards.
The country’s prisons have a designated holding capacity of 17 000, but now house up to 21 000 inmates, despite the release of 1 680 jailbirds under this year’s Presidential Amnesty.
Boreholes are pumping little water, which cannot meet the prisoners’ and officers’ daily needs.
The Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) has not been spared the national roller meal shortage which has seen indigenous suppliers delivering limited quantities, just enough to feed inmates for a few days.
Prisoners in Harare province only consume up to 3,9 tonnes of mealie- meal a day, which the milling companies are failing to supply.
In an interview, ZPCS spokesperson Superintendent Meya Khanyezi confirmed the challenges, saying three quarters of the country’s prisons faced serious water challenges.
Supt Khanyezi said water shortages were affecting their readiness to curb Covid-19.
“As we are putting in place measures to fight Covid-19, we do not have enough water for prisoners’ use, including regular washing of hands,” she said. “People are supposed to wash hands as often as possible a day, which requires more water supplies.
“Most prisons are relying on boreholes, which are now drying up and the water at times turns muddy. Little water a day is now being drawn from the boreholes and it is not enough for the over 21 000 inmates in our prisons.”
According to Supt Khanyezi, Masvingo prisons had no water save for Mutimurefu Prison Farm, while Khami Maximum Prison in Bulawayo only got water once a week.
Matabeleland North and Mashonaland East stations were operating without proper water supplies with prisoners relying on a little borehole water for consumption while they fetched water for toilets and bathing from dams and other unprotected sources.
In Midlands, most stations had adequate water supplies except for Whahwa, which now depended on drying boreholes.
Only Bindura Prison has enough water in Mashonaland Central while the other stations like Mt Darwin, Mazowe and Guruve are struggling for water.
ZPCS commander for Harare province Senior Assistant Commissioner Alford Gapare said prisons were struggling to get mealie-meal for the inmates.
“We are always running around to procure mealie-meal for the next day due to the roller meal challenges,” he said. “Indigenous millers who are supplying mealie-meal are overwhelmed and they cannot supply us with enough roller meal to feed the inmates.
“Yes, for now, we are still managing to provide inmates with three meals a day but we are running out of stocks. They provide us with small quantities which can last for one or two days and we appeal to the Grain Marketing Board to chip in and provide us with adequate stocks.”
ZPCS has several farms which are being underused due to different reasons.
Snr Asst Comm Gapare said the supplies available for Harare can only feed the inmate up to end of this month.
He urged Government to provide ZPCS with adequate machinery and other forms of support for agriculture to boost yield at the farms.
He said the maize produced at the prison farms was not enough to feed prisoners who each require at least 600g of mealie-meal daily.
“Using our standard of 600g for each prisoner (covering porridge and two meals of sadza), we require about 1 423,5 tonnes annually for Harare province when we have 300 hectares of arable land,” said Snr Asst Comm Gapare.
“Our Harare farms, using an average yield of five tonnes per hectare, can produce about 1 500 tonnes but due to inadequate farming equipment and inputs, we end up producing less than half the expected yield.”
Snr Asst Comm Gapare said Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison last had council water in 2018 and the alternative water sources are now drying up.
“Water is a big challenge that needs an urgent address in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. Here at Chikurubi, we last had council water years back. I remember getting supplies for a single day in 2018 and since then, we have never got a drop of it,” he said.
A visit by The Herald to Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison this week saw prisoners fetching water from a borehole using buckets, taking it up to their cells in the upper floors, for bathing and flushing toilets.
They use the bucket system, which has since been condemned as unhealthy.
The water can only be drawn for an hour due to the receding water table.
Online Reporter