August 27, 2021
By: Hafsatu Z Bangura
At a presser held on the 26th August 2021, at Youyi building in Freetown, the Minister of Internal Affairs, David Maurice Panda Noah with a cross section of officials from the Sierra Leone Correctional Service Centre has explained about a propose plan to relocate the Sierra Leone Correctional Service from Freetown to Songo.
The minister noted that the plan is a work in progress which is bent on decongesting the correctional facility, as according to him the plan is a fulfillment of president Bio`s new direction agenda.
He informed that the present state of the prisons has security implications for the inmates as well as a safety concern for the general populace.
He said the correctional facility is in the main heart of the Central Business District (CBD) as houses, offices and businesses are sighted from the facility which poses risk for prison inmates.
He said these inmates are mostly found with drugs, contrabands, and weapons that are been thrown inside the facility from the residential areas.
Mr. Noah said the previous attempted prison break is of a great concern because it touches on the security of the state and safety of the citizenry.
The minister pointed out that the maximum security detention was built to house 324 inmates but at its present capacity it is now housing over 1,500 inmates.
He said there are 14 condemned and separate cells, remand 22, Blyden 72, Clarkson 72, Wilberforce 72 making it a total of 324 which is a major distress to inmates and security official’s regarding the welfare of inmates.
He said the present facility is unable to provide recreational facilities for inmates due to overcrowding and with 1,500 people it cannot perform such mandatory obligations.
Mr. Noah revealed that at the present state of the facility, administrative quarters are lacking to run the day to day affairs of the prisons.
The minister said inmates in remand, trial and those convicted are to be separated and not to be clustered together with condemned inmates who always stir up troubles due to their conviction without any possibility of parole.
He noted that another cause for concern is the classification and needs of inmates, such as inmates with special needs like asthmatic conditions and those in need of wheel chairs must be catered for at the new facility in Songo.
Mr. Noah noted that human rights issues, welfare of the inmates, and feeding are a major concern to inmates as according to him the new ultra-modern correctional facility will make provision for the above mentioned concerns in order to help inmates get a start at life and contribute meaningfully to the development of the state.
He stated that the new facility will make provision for cell spacing as with the current facility some inmates sleep whilst others stand and watch fellow inmates sleep due to overcrowding.
He concluded that with the new facility that is underway, provision will be made for housing, church, mosque, basketball court, football field, vocational learning centers and quarters, offices for staff and proper structures for inmates.