27 December 2011
THE number of inmates on death row at Mukobeko Maximum Security Prison has swelled to 279, Commissioner of Prisons Percy Chato said yesterday.
Mr Chato said in a brief response to a press query in Kabwe yesterday that there were 279 inmates who had already been sentenced to death, but could not state the capacity of the condemned section.
Sources said the condemned section initially had 48 holding cells, but the facility was recently extended to accommodate 100 cells. According to prisons regulations, there should only be one condemned prisoner in a cell, although presently six inmates share a small room.
“There is still need to expand the condemned section because that place is small. All the inmates do is pray, read the Bible or play chess as they wait for their execution,” the source said.
Home Affairs Minister Kennedy Sakeni said in an interview that the courts should continue giving community service or fine as punishment for those convicted of small offences to decongest prisons in general.
The last time an execution was carried out was when late President Frederick Chiluba was still Head of State.
When president Levy Mwanawasa assumed office, he refused to sign any death warrant, as he did not believe capital punishment should have been retained in the Zambian laws.
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