After the Makala prison in Kinshasa, 270 inmates from the Kasapa prison in Lubumbashi were granted conditional release on Monday October 7, 2024. The Congolese Minister of Justice, Constant Mutamba, on mission in Haut Katanga, himself carried out this operation which aims to relieve congestion in the country’s prisons. Built during the colonial era with a capacity of 680 residents, Kasapa prison has 2,790 inmates.
1 min
With our correspondent in Lubumbashi, Denise Maheho
Samy Kapanga has just spent three years in Kasapa central prison in Lubumbashi without being tried. He is one of 40 sick detainees who were all released this Monday, October 7. In a trembling voice, Samy returns to the circumstances of his arrest: “ I was arrested at 6 p.m. because I was walking around without my ID. I was taken to the dungeon and there they demanded $300 from me. Since I didn’t have any, they threw me here in prison. »
230 other prisoners were also released. Some were detained for minor crimes, others had already served more than half of their sentence. With his exit ticket in hand, Moïse Ngandu, a driver, did not expect it. “ I was sentenced to two years in prison because I hit two people who were injured. Then we added a year. There, I had nine months left. I thank the good Lord. We could not imagine that the minister would come himself to carry out our release. »
The Minister of Justice, Constant Mutamba, asked those responsible for civil and military prosecutions to regularly visit prisons in order to monitor detainee files.
Also readDRC: 1,685 sick inmates released from Makala prison in Kinshasa