Mukobeko Maximum Security Prison
Location | Kabwe |
---|---|
Status | Operational |
Opened | 1978 |
Managed by | Zambia Prison Service |
Country | Zambia |
Mukobeko (or Mukobeko State Prison) is a maximum security prison in Kabwe where prisoners sentenced to death are held.[1] The prison was built in 1978.
Overcrowding and living conditions
Zambian presidents who came after Kenneth Kaunda had refused to sign death sentences for prisoners, leading to overcrowding and poor sanitary conditions. Human rights activists say the congestion was caused by the slow dispensation of justice.[2]
In March 2013, 600 prisoners were transferred to the new facility at Mwembeshi Maximum Prison under heavy and tight security by the Zambia Police Service, Zambia Army, Zambia Air Force and the Zambia Prison Service.[3] This was in a bid decongest the prison and to improve the welfare of those incarcerated.
Pardon of prisoners
During a visit of the prison on 16 July 2015, President Edgar Lungu commuted death sentences of 332 inmates to life imprisonment.[2] The president also officially opened the new Central Mechanical Workshop at Mukobeko to help in the servicing of Zambia Prisons Service vehicles and those for the Ministry of Home Affairs.[4]
References
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- ↑ Death Penalty Database, 20 July 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Zambian president spares 332 death row inmates Africa Review, 17 July 2015
- ↑ 600 prisoners from Mukobeko Prison moved to Mwembeshi Maximum prison LusakaTimes, 10 March 2013
- ↑ Lungu opens Mukobeko workshop, ZNBC, 16 July 2015