The LRF Newsletter -

Commissioner of prisons at Lusaka Central Prison Philip Sinyangwe made the admission before High Court judge Japhet Banda recently when he was summoned to explain before the court why he banned inmates from receiving food from outside the prison contrary to the provisions in the Prisons Act.

In this Act, the inmates are allowed to receive food, be it warm or cold from outside. Sinyangwe did not offer any convincing reasons for his action despite the fact that he was aware about the provisions of the law.

Prisoners rely more on food from outside which is sufficient, in most cases, properly prepared and with more nutritive value.

Judge Banda in his ruling restored this right to the prisoners.

Attorney General Bonaventure Mutale in his bid to save the State from embarrassment sought to explain that the move by the prison authorities to bar food from outside could be a measure intended to arrest the spread of the Cholera epidemic.

He admitted that complaints about food were genuine because the authorities were obliged to comply with regulations.

But this was not the only complaint. Lusaka lawyer Professor Patrick Mvunga complained on behalf of the clients he is representing that they found it difficult to feed from prison because there were no plates there.

Attorney General Mutale said although the problem was administrative, the State was not proud of that record.

"We are not proud of this record because that is their (prisoners´) basic human right," he said.

But judge Banda noted the shortage of plates in prisons was not only a Lusaka problem.

"This problem is in almost all the prisons," the judge said. "You cannot provide food without plates. Are the inmates going to put their food on paper or plastics? This is very de-humanising."