Kenge central prison in DRC’s Kwango province has been hit by a spate of TB-related deaths. At least ten inmates died, while thirty others tested positive for the disease. Local civil society organizations denounce the overcrowding, the absence of hygienic facilities and the impossibility of separating minor detainees from adults as aggravating factors, and call for the decongestion of this prison by transferring the detainees to other neighboring provinces.
The provincial Minister of Justice and Human Rights, Adélard Nkisi, assures that all the authorizations have been obtained to proceed with this transfer, the urgency of which is proven, given the increased risk of spread among the detainees kept in the same space. .
The construction of a new courthouse could help in the management of prison policy, but the dilapidation of Kenge central prison calls for an immediate and temporary solution. Thus, the state of siege decreed in May in the agitated provinces of eastern Congo can only make the transfer of detainees to these risk areas more complex.
Overcrowding and the deafness of the authorities in the face of this situation will explode one day or another: the current situation is as dangerous as it is worrying. The efforts of civil society and authorities at all levels must therefore be focused on setting up mechanisms to protect prisoners and fight against the spread of tuberculosis in DRC prisons.