On Monday, May 6, officials of the Kalemie prison administration (Tanganyika) transferred around a hundred inmates from the Kalemie central prison to the Kassapa prisons in Lubumbashi and Buluo prisons in Likasi in Haut-Katanga. Among the transferred detainees are people sentenced to heavy sentences. These detainees were transported aboard a military plane.
For these prison officials, the objective is to relieve congestion in Kalemie prison, whose reception capacity is largely exceeded.
Built in 1928 to accommodate 250 inmates, this prison house currently accommodates more than 800 residents.
The transfer of these prisoners is facilitated by the provincial government of Tanganyika with the assistance of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
The provincial Minister of the Interior, Dieudonne Kasaka, specifies that the transfer of these prisoners is also part of the fight against insecurity in the town of Kalemie.
Dieudonne Kasaka highlights the fact that some Kalémie inmates find themselves mysteriously released from prison without having served their sentence, resulting in a threat to public security.
He also specifies that other detainees will be transferred to Angenga prison in the province of Mongala.
A second wave of prisoners could leave Kalemie this Wednesday, May 8.