Prison Service needs K87m for Mapanga college renovation

 Malawi Prison Services (MPS) says it needs about K87 million for the refurbishment of properties at Mapanga Prison Training College which were damaged by Malawians who returned from South Africa on January 10.

MPS spokesperson Chimwemwe Shaba said in an interview yesterday government will fund the renovation because the college is one of its institutions.

He could, however, not state when the college will be refurbished.

Said Shaba: “Malawi Prison Training School is a government institution. The money we use comes from government, so if resources allow, government will renovate the place.”

He said the damages have not affected the MPS because it had already suspended prison trainings due to covid-19.

“However, should we resume our training, it means the number of officers to be accommodated for training will be limited to only few because part of what was damaged were hostels.

“It will also mean that we will pump in some resources to fix some things such as electricity that were affected,” explained Shaba.

The returnees, who arrived on January 9 2021 and were quarantined at the college campus awaiting Covid-19 test results, went on the rampage on January 10 2021, destroying personal and public property in the college vicinity.

Police moved in and fired tear gas to restore order after some of the returnees pelted stones at passing vehicles along the Blantyre-Zomba Road a stone’s throw away from the wire fence of their holding premises.

The returnees also ran riot and torched some structures at the training school which during the one-party administration was used as a Malawi Young Pioneers training base.

Asked what role the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 will play in the refurbishment of the training school properties as the college was under it during the incident, Minister of Information Gospel Kazako, who is also a member of the task force, said MPS was better-placed to comment on the matter. He said the training college is under the MPS