BUJUMBURA March 20th (ABP) – The Minister of Justice, Mrs. Domine Banyankimbona, paid a visit on Thursday, March 16, 2023, to the central prison of Mpimba located in the Musaga zone of the urban commune of Muha, where she proceeded to the release of 93 female inmates who have just completed a quarter of their sentences and 200 other inmates who have been released by the prosecutor.
According to Banyankimbona, the visit aimed to wish women prisoners the international Day dedicated to women, which was celebrated on March 8, and to implement the government’s project to reduce the number of inmates in prisons.
In order to make them celebrate the international Day dedicated to women, assistance composed of food and non-food items, was granted to women prisoners of the central prison of Mpimba. Those who have children received sugar, porridge, basins and children’s clothes.
In her speech, the Minister of Justice gave advice to the 93 prisoners who had just received their release tickets to return to their respective families. She asked to serve as a model in good behavior in front of their families and their neighbors because, she justified, “it is not good for the citizen to remain in prison throughout his life, rather to remain in his own house with a view to working for the public interest, and to integrate into cooperatives in order to support the development of the country”.
She did not fail to advise prisoners who were not lucky enough to be released to display good behavior and “follow the advice and training given to them for the development of the country, once released”.
Taking the floor, the Director General of Prisons in Burundi, Mr. Jean Marie Claver Miburo, announced the situation of nearly 12 million inmates including 919 women, stressing that the main prison of Musaga houses a third of the prisoners who are in Burundi.
He also cited a major challenge relating to the large number of prisoners, and its consequences, in particular means of transport in the event of illness, the lack of food as well as travel when they have to go to court.