Released MP narrates ordeal in Harare remand prison: Nehanda Radio

The dispensary at Harare’s remand prison is stocked with expired medicines and these are being administered to sick prisoners. Adding to the crisis is serious overcrowding inside the cells. This was the damning narration of Glen View MP Paul Madzore a day after being released on bail by the High Court. The legislator was arrested and made to spend 8 days in custody over allegations he incited people in his constituency to block roads and prevent others from going to work. He told Newsreel the police did their best to harass and intimidate him but he left prison a much more determined ‘soldier’ in the struggle.

Madzore told Newsreel that disgruntled youths in Glen View burnt tyres and blocked roads protesting the high cost of living. Soon after the police arrested him for allegedly inciting the protests. As soon as he went into custody various prison officers verbally abused him while others accused him of trying to ‘out do the government.’ Several others declared they would make him suffer during his time inside. Madzore said he was moved around in tight leg irons which caused his legs to swell and all the time he wore torn shorts revealing his entire backside.

Madzore told Newsreel the food is terrible and ‘there is lice all over eating into the skin of prisoners.’ Pellagra, a vitamin deficiency disease caused by a dietary lack of vitamins and proteins, is also quite prevalent amongst prisoners in the cells. The disease has the potential to kill within 4 or 5 years if untreated. Madzore told us that judging from the state of the dispensary a lot of prisoners are dying from the disease as there are no medicines. The drugs in stock expired a long time ago. The MP thanked party leader Morgan Tsvangirai for visiting him whilst in custody saying, ‘it made me feel I was a necessary soldier in the struggle and I felt re-invigorated.’- SW Radio Africa.