Mzuzu, Nkhata Bay prisons get PPE
St John of God has donated personal protective equipment (PPE) to Mzuzu and Nkhata Bay prisons to enhance their efforts in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
Speaking on Friday during the hand over, St John of God programmes manager Christopher Mhone said they donated the PPE to enhance sanitation and hygiene at the facilities.
“If we do not provide PPE to prisons, we are endangering our own lives because prison staff get in touch with the outside world,” he said.
During the ceremony, it also transpired that the two facilities are congested and in need of PPE.
Mzuzu Prison in-charge Kelvin Kesi said a cell at the prison accommodates 113 inmates instead of the design capacity of 56.
“Besides, officers do not have PPE,” he said.
Kesi also said prison authorities should be testing remandees from police cells for Covid-19 before taking them in.
Nkhata Bay Prison spokesperson MacDonald Migolo whose facility has 176 inmates against a capacity of 80, echoed Kesi’s sentiments that prison staff need PPE.
