The Herald

25 years ago

PLUMTREE, 20 June 1992. — The Government plans to build a modern prison complex and acquire a prison farm in the Plumtree district, the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Cde Emmerson Mnangagwa, said yesterday.

Officially opening the $2,5 million Plumtree Magistrates’ Court complex, Cde Mnangagwa said the present prison at Plumtree, built in 1919, was very old and was designed to hold only 100 inmates.

He said: “With the increase in the number of cases coming before the courts in the town, the prison has proved to be completely inadequate and has resulted in prisoners being constantly transferred to bigger prisons in Bulawayo.”

The completion of the complex was a milestone in the implementation of Government’s policy of bringing justice to the people and also improving the standards of justice in the legal system, he said.