Godfrey Mutimba
30 August 2008
Seven inmates at Mutimurefu prison last week died of hunger related illnesses as food shortages continue to hit government institutions.
The deceased are Howard Erika, Prison Number (PN) 1141/03, Patrick Bhumera (PN 1594/06), Ceplos Lasani (PN 1656/06), Pedzisai Muvengwa (PN 747/07), Alimony Dzaromba (PN 248/07), Skubekhile Masuku (PN320/08), and Joseph Mahumbike (PN not given).
Their ages could not be ascertained by the time of going to print.
The seven succumbed to various ailments, all linked to malnutrition as they were forced to feed on vegetable soup, with over six of them sharing a small bundle of vegetables. They fell ill but could not get medication, The Standard was told, by a highly placed source.
Prisoners used to have three meals a day but are now having one "unhealthy" meal as authorities say they have since exhausted their food budgets.
Scores of other prisoners at the prison, located a few kilometers out of Masvingo town, are succumbing to pellagra, which is caused by lack of food, with some reportedly becoming mentally ill.
The highly placed source said those who die are dumped in a cell, as the prison does not have a functioning mortuary, with the majority literally decomposing, because the authorities do not inform relatives on time. Others are subjected to undeserved pauper's burial.
"You have to be on the lookout if you have an ill relative detained here. It's either you have to bring your own food, otherwise they will die and get a pauper's burial because of the unavailability of a mortuary resulting in the the authorities having to dispose of the corpses," he said.
Zimbabwe Prisons Services (ZPS) public relations manager, Granisia Musango, could not be reached for a comment as calls to the offices went unanswered.
However, a prison official, who declined to be named, warned that this was not a time to commit crimes.
"Food is very scarce such that we have resorted to giving them "vegetable soup" or on good days, measly salty kapenta fish served with few lumps of sadza," said the prison official, who insisted on anonymity.
He said most prisons were facing other problems that included overcrowding, poor sanitation, as well as lice-infested blankets that all combined to take a toll on the inmates' health.
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