Government assesses conditions for return of inmates to Xai-Xai prison

Maputo, 17 Feb (AIM) – Mozambican Justice Minister Mateus Saize has announced that the government is still assessing the conditions so that the inmates may return to prison in the city of Xai-Xai, capital of the southern province of Gaza, after they were evacuated during the devastating floods that ruined much of Gaza, including Xai-Xai.

According to the minister, who was speaking to reporters on Monday, in Maputo, on the sidelines of a meeting with the American diplomats, over 100 inmates were evacuated from the Xai-Xai prison.

Some of the inmates were taken to prisons in Mandlakazi district, in the same province, while alternative accommodation was found for others in the neighbouring province of Inhambane.

“The damage is visible. We are in the process of cleaning up and recovering to full operation, but we admit that we have had severe damage to our prisons in four flood affected provinces. During the meeting, we discussed various issues related to the humanization of prisons”, he said.

Saize added that he asked the United States for support so that “we can humanize our prisons.”

He also announced that the project to introduce electronic bracelets into Mozambican prisons will be fully operational within fifteen days.
“Electronic bracelets are part of this package, and we already have the control centre up and running. We are finalizing some regulatory details to enable the correct application of these measures. We want to ensure that, between now and next week, we will already have some prison inmates people wearing electronic bracelets”, he said.
(AIM)
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