Maputo, 26 Nov (AIM) – The Mozambican justice minister, Mateus Saize, has announced that the government intends to build, over the next five years, 13 penitentiaries across the country in order to reduce the overcrowding in the country’s prison system.
According to the minister, who was speaking on Tuesday at the ceremony in which he laid the first stone for the construction of a penitentiary in Jangamo district, in the southern province of Inhambane, the new prisons are part of the government’s five-year plan for 2025-2029.
Saize said there will be 10 district prisons and three regional prisons built during this period. “Of the 10 district prisons, we will give priority to districts that have courts but no prison facilities to house the inmates”, he said.
According to the minister, Mozambique has around 138 jails, including general and special prisons, but he acknowledged that their capacity falls short of the needs of prisoners.
“We have some 8,000 beds in the prisons to accommodate around 20,000 inmates. This means that we have overcrowding of more than double the installed capacity. The new construction aims to provide more humane treatment for prisoners”, he said.
In addition to the new prisons, he said that the government will also provide prisoners with training, developing, among other things, agricultural activities to “give prisoners a profession” so that, when they return to their families, they will be able to work.
Last August, the minister announced that the country has secured financial support to implement an electronic bracelet system in order to control the movements of prisoners, and address the prison overcrowding problem.
Without mentioning the specific budget for the programme implementation or the partner’s name, he said that “we are already working on this, and we are already in the administrative phase of carrying it out. Our cooperation partner, who will finance this project, is working with us.”
(AIM)
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