Dozens of prisoners at Kinshasa’s Makala Central Prison were on Wednesday evening transferred to Luzumu Detention Camp, located in Kasangulu territory, Kongo Central Province.
The operation was carried out in order to decongest the Makala Central Prison that was built accommodate 1,500 inmates but has long faced with overcrowding.
In the latest status report carried out recently, Makala had 13,541 detainees out of which only 2,242 were convicted individuals.
Meanwhile, the Bill Clinton Peace Foundation reported that 503 deaths were recorded at Makala between January and November 2023 to highlight ongoing challenges.
The Luzumu detention camp has recently been rehabilitated under the partnership between the European Union and Swedish cooperation.
The renovation of the Luzumu facility cost about €5 million with the European Union financing 85% of the project while the rest came from the Congolese public treasury.
