Prisons are correctional facilities where criminals are held in order to give them the punishment they deserve. However, due to the inhumane activities that are commonly carried out in African prisons, some African prisons are regarded as among the worst.
Nelson Mandela once said that the best way to understand a country’s true state is to visit its prisons. While prison is not a place to have fun, it is also not a place where people should die. According to reports, the most common causes of death in African prisons are malnutrition and overcrowding, which increases the risk of infections.
Many African prisons are dubbed “hell on Earth.” Below are 5 of the worst prisons in Africa.
1. Chikurubi Maximum Prison – Zimbabwe
Chikurubi Prison is a Zimbabwean maximum-security prison. The prison is located on the outskirts of the country’s capital, Harare. Chikurubi Prison is notorious for alleged mistreatment and human rights violations.
The prison is known for its overcrowding and filthy conditions. Cells are typically 9 metres (30 feet) by 4 metres (13 feet) in size, with up to 25 prisoners housed in each.
Chukurubi Max Prison is Zimbabwe’s largest correctional facility and one of the worst prisons in Africa. It is notorious for overcrowding, guard brutality, malnutrition, overcrowding, no healthcare, and poor sanitary conditions.
2 – Makala Prison – Democratic Republic of Congo
In 2021, the Congolese Association for Access to Justice (ACAJ), a rights organization, reported that 150 inmates died in DRC jail in the first six months of the year, with these deaths at the Makala prison being caused by a lack of appropriate medical care, inhumane conditions, particularly for female prisoners, and overcrowding of the prison’s cells.
Makala Prison was built during colonial times to house 1,500 inmates, but it now houses more than 9,000. In addition to overcrowding, the prison’s cells are dilapidated, with almost no sanitary facilities.
3. Gitarama Prison – Rwanda
In Gitarama Prison, inmates frequently kill each other. Cannibalism has even occurred in some cases. Gitarama was designed to hold no more than 400 prisoners, but there are reports that more than 5000 are held there.
Due to a lack of space, the prisoners at Gitarama prison spend most of their time standing. Furthermore, reports indicate that 7-8 prisoners die daily in Gitarama prison due to deplorable conditions. The prisoners frequently go barefoot and develop gangrene.
Many human rights organizations have protested the deplorable conditions inside the jail, but have been unable to improve the situation.
4. Black Beach Prison – Equatorial Guinea
Black Beach Prison was built During the Spanish colonial rule in the 1940s. Initially, common criminals were imprisoned here, but following the country’s independence in 1968 and the establishment of Francisco Macas Nguema’s dictatorship, many political opponents were imprisoned and killed in prison. Bonifacio Ondó Edu and Edmundo Bossio are two of them.
Black Beach is known as Africa’s most notorious prison and is located on the island of Bioko, in the capital city of Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.
According to Amnesty International, Black beach prison is ” The living hell of Equatorial Guinea’s missing prisoners and their families.”
This is one of the extremely harsh prisons, with guard brutality, malnutrition, and overcrowding. Due to its history of human rights violations, the prison has a reputation for systematically neglecting and brutalizing its inmates; prisoners are usually denied medical treatment and limited food.
5. Kamiti Maximum Prison – Kenya
Kamiti Maximum Security Prison is a Kenyan prison located in Nairobi. It is situated in Kiambu’s agricultural district. and it sits in the middle of its own 490-hectare estate. During the 1980s and early 1990s, Kamiti housed a large number of political prisoners. The prison was designed to accommodate 1400 inmates, but it now houses over 3600 in deplorable conditions.
The prison houses a big number of political detainees, has a history of sodomy, inmate executions, and epidemics that included hunger, cholera, and ulcers. On January 13, 2022, inmates at Kamiti Maximum Security Prison protested over alleged mistreatment of their colleagues, alleging that they were confined without food.