Number 16                                                                                                                     April/May, 2000

What's in the News?

Wardes cry for rights

e also have rights, which need to be respected, is the cry of most prison warders in Lusaka.

Prison warders spoken to last month said most Human Rights Non Governmental Organisations concentrated on defending the rights of prisoners and ignored them.

“Yes, prisoners have rights which need to be respected but we also have rights which are not respected,” the warder who declined to be named complained.

“Three quarters of the officers at Lusaka Central and Kamwala prisons are infected with Tuberculosis by the prisoners and many more have died and are still to die but no one has spoken about it.”

The warder said government should come in and protect them from contracting diseases from the prisoners.

“The government should give us something to protect ourselves because we cannot avoid the prisoners,” he said. “Who is going to look after them if we shun them. Even the hardship allowance we are given is meagre, something should be done about it.”

Another warder challenged NGOs to also champion their cause as warders.

“Let them speak for us as well,” he said. “In fact, most of the prisoners they defend are hard core criminals when we are very innocent and working hard for the good of this country.”

Officer in charge at Kamwala remand prison in Lusaka, superintendent Percy Chato, could neither confirm nor deny the warders’ complaints.

“I am not the right man to comment on that, just contact the headquarters in Kabwe,” he said. Efforts to get a comment from Kabwe, however, failed.

But warders are not the only ones who complained. Some police prosecutors also complained that many of them had contracted air borne diseases from accused persons.

“The K1, 500 risk allowance we are given per month is nothing to compare with the risks we face every day,” he said. “Something needs to be done especially increasing the risk allowances.”

But police spokesman Lemmy Kajoba said his office was not aware about prosecutors contracting diseases from accused persons.

“Suppose that is true, I will find out from the police command what could be done to help in such cases,” he said.

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