. Malembeka

By SARAH MWANZA  –
THE Prisons Care and Counselling Association (PRISCCA) has disclosed that some inmates on strong medications have stopped taking them due to inadequate food in correctional facilities.
PRISCCA executive director Godfrey Malembeka lamented that provision of food had continued to be a challenge in the Zambian correctional facilities.
Dr Malembeka said inmates’ diet consisted of kapenta (sardines) nshima, beans and rice and that the meals were in small quantities and, in most cases, not balanced.
“This has caused some inmates taking strong medications to stop taking the medicines claiming taking the medicines on an empty stomach has consequences,” Dr Malembeka said.
Dr Malembeka said that this had created a serious problem of drug resistant strains of diseases in correctional facilities.
He added that although prisoners were supposed to eat three times a day, this was not a reality on the ground because some prisoners only managed to eat once, twice or double portion a day.
Dr Malembeka further said food shortages in correctional facilities had led to food being a commodity that was traded to the most vulnerable in exchange for favours.
He said in a research done by PRISCCA, Human Rights Watch and Arasa and produced in a book titled ‘Unjust and Unhealthy’, an inmate named Orbed, 26, described how inmates used food to rule over others.
“Food is a major problem. The quantity and quality are both poor. It is not enough to sustain one’s life in here. We lose weight; we are enslaved all because of food. Those who are able to afford food can enslave others,” Orbed explained in the book.
Dr Malembeka further lamented lack of healthcare services for inmates, saying that Zambia’s prison health facilities were about 21 but with only three medical doctors.
“This poses a challenge on service provision. Whether or not inmates can access routine and even emergency healthcare is dependent upon the decision of prison officers with no medical training, and is constrained by a lack of staff, prison vehicles, and fuel for transportation,” Dr Malembeka said.
He said that in some cases, inmates were referred to the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) for specialist treatment where they were required to pay colossal sums of money, which in most cases they were unable to pay resulting in their failure to receive any medical attention.
“While HIV testing and treatment have improved at most prisons in recent years, tuberculosis screening and care remain grossly inadequate, hence upon their release from prison, some prisoners carry untreated and, in some cases, drug-resistant diseases back to their communities,” he said
Dr Malembeka thanked President Edgar Lungu for pardoning 428 inmates during the commemoration of Africa Freedom Day.
Inmates talked to at Lusaka central correctional centre during the week disclosed that nshima especially special relish like meat was being rationed by authorities in small portions that usually leaves inmates craving for more.
“These drugs we take are very powerful and cause dizziness when one doesn’t take enough food. This is why sometimes we stay away from the medicines we take,” said a source who is on medication.
The sources complained that though food was plenty in the store rooms, the cooks only cooked small portions that were inadequate.
But Zambia correctional services head of public relations Margaret Nawa refuted the allegations saying the reports were unfounded insisting there was enough food.
“In fact, I’m from talking to the officer in charge at Lusaka central correctional centre who has confirmed that there is surplus food ,” she said.