Heavy rains and strong winds blew off the roofing of a section of Whawha Prison in Gweru last Friday.
Whawha Medium Prison Officer in Charge, Superintendent Tineyi Makeredza told ZBC News that prisoners had to be moved to buildings that remained intact. He said:
The heavy winds came at around 2 PM. They blew away the roofs of nine cells. Around 100 prisoners had to be moved to other cells.
Our carrying capacity is 1 200 and we already had 1 460 prisoners, meaning we were overcrowded already. The situation has been worsened by this unfortunate incident.
Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) Midlands Province Deputy Officer Commanding, Assistant Commissioner Clemence Chigogo said:
It is a very sad situation that occurred at this prison. My officers are still quantifying the amount of loss incurred.
We also have around 20 families of officers whose houses were affected in the camp.
This is the second time we have experienced such as it also happened sometime in 2016.
We didn’t anticipate this and as such we need materials from the corporate world so that we rectify the problem.
Chigogo said that alternative accommodation for affected officers and families has since been provided.
Zimbabwe is experiencing increased rainfall activity, with most of the rainfall events violent in nature.
Weather forecasts are predicting rainfall almost daily until after Christmas for much of the country.
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