Liberian Jails Run out of Food for Inmates

All 15 prison facilities in Liberia have this week run out of food for inmates.

This has caused two prisons, including the main Monrovia Central Prison, to temporarily “shut their doors to newcomers, prison officials have said.”

The situation is being blamed on a number of factors including ‘delays in remitting funds for food and upkeep’ of prison facilities.

But the director of prisons, Sainleseh Kwaidah, told the BBC on Monday that the ‘government was doing everything to resolve the situation.’

He said that after some interventions the two prisons that had stopped admitting inmates had reopened their doors and food was reaching others.

Possibility
A prison warder told the BBC the prisons had shut the doors to avoid putting in more people at risk because of the food shortage. He said there was also a possibility that angry inmates could stage jailbreaks.

A well-known businessman who has often provided cooked meals to inmates in the Monrovia Central Prison has moved in to provide food to mitigate the crisis.

Prison warders have in recent days criticised the government’s handling of the affairs of the crowded correctional facilities.

BBC/Shakirat Sadiq