HH is well looked after-Prisons chief
THE Zambia Correctional Service has maintained that UPND president Hakainde Hichilema is being well looked after and not living in inhuman conditions at Mukobeko.
Zambia correctional service public relations officer Brian Mooya said in a statement yesterday that the the service was disappointed with the continued propaganda by the UPND through its spokesperson Charles Kakoma who has alleged that Mr. Hichilema was being dehumanized at Mukobeko.
Mr. Mooya said that the allegations were false and that Mr. Hichilema was treated fairly like any other prisoner as the correctional service did not discriminate persons detained in its facilities based on their social class, religion, tribe or any other identification.
“There is nothing unlawful in giving HH the same facilities available to other prisoners. It is unrealistic for the UPND to demand that HH must be given special treatment or a special cell. The UPND should know that there are no special cells in prison as all prisoners are treated equally. Concerned people must be assured that Mr. Hichilema just like any other person detained at Mukobeko Correctional Center is in safe hands,” Mr. Mooya said.
He said that the UPND community should understand that a prison cannot be compared to a home and therefore it was unrealistic to expect that someone would live in prison the way they lived at their home.
“We should work hard as a country to improve prisons conditions to make them better. The UPND MPs as lawmakers are in fact better placed to be among the advocates of increased funding to the Zambia Correctional Service,” Mr. Mooya said.
He said it was disturbing that the UPND had continued questioning the service over the transfer of Mr. Hichilema from Lusaka central prison to Mukobeko Maximum security correctional center in Kabwe.
Mr. Mooya said the law was clear under section 68 of the Prison Act cap 97 of the Laws of Zambia which states that, “The commissioner (commissioner general in this case) may by any general or special order direct that any prisoner shall be removed to any prison other than that in which he is confined or to which he had been committed.”
Mr. Mooya said that there where many reasons as to why a prisoner may be transferred and in this case it was based on security reasons.
He further said the service was again compelled to repeat itself regarding visitations to a prison.
“prison rules are clear, section 132 part 1 and 2 are clear on this one as it states that no prisoner shall be allowed more than three visits at any one time and all visits to a prisoner shall take place during such hours as the officer in charge may direct. A prison is a security institution that cannot be visited any how like a tavern or pub,” Mr. Mooya said.
He said that the service operated professionally and within the confines of the law with respect of inherent dignity of a human person and in accordance with the international Human rights and that did not exclude Mr. Hichilema.
Mr. Mooya appealed to the UPND and other interested parties to familiarize themselves with the prisons and the prisons subsidiary legislation