CommuTalk Reporter
GWERU — Heavy rains and strong winds damaged a prison complex in Gweru (pictured) on Friday, forcing about 100 inmates to relocate to other cells and worsening the overcrowding problem at the facility.
Superintendent Tineyi Makeredza, said the winds blew away the roofs of nine cells around 2PM. The prison has a capacity of 1,200 inmates but was already holding 1,460 before the incident.
Assistant Commissioner Clemence Chigogo, the deputy officer commanding of the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services in Midlands Province, said the storm also affected the houses of about 20 prison officers and their families in the camp.
“This is the second time we have experienced such a disaster. It also happened in 2016. We need materials from the corporate world to rectify the problem,” Chigogo said.
Chigogo further said alternative accommodation had been provided for the affected officers and families, and that prison authorities were working to find solutions to the problem.
