Malawi govt to refurbish prisons’ kitchens

Prisoners in Malawi are expected to be receiving their daily meals on time following the government’s decision to refurbish kitchens of all prisons nationwide.

The authorities are now inviting bids for the supply, delivery, installation, training and commission of Electric Cooking pots to the Malawi Prison Service.

In a supply tender notice published on Friday, the authorities say they want a supply of at least 14 electric cooking pots for prisons in the northern region, 29 in the central, 14 in the eastern, and 23 in the southern region.

The development is a relief to prison chefs, who have all along been using firewood to cook meals for prisoners.

And for the prisoners, this would mean they would probably start taking meals twice a day, as currently they take the meals once.

The government is to implement the exercise with funding from the European Union.

Human rights activists have on several occasions criticized the government for neglecting poor conditions in country’s prisons.

In 2011, rights activist Ben Chiza Mkandawire expressed how appalled he was at condition at prison conditions in the Country’s Capital Lilongwe, after he spent days in detention alongside other four activists.

They were detained for engaging in a peaceful protest outside parliament in Lilongwe.

During remand at Maula Prison, Mkandawire said he had seen at first hand conditions of overcrowding, poor sanitation, and other factors making inmates vulnerable to contagious diseases like TB, diarrhea and Scabies.

The EU is funding the project under its democratic government programme, according to the contract notice.