SQUATTERS have encroached on Choma Central Prison land barely three months after police discovered the existence of illegal settlers on a piece of land belonging to Choma Central Police Station.
Speaking when Commissioner of prisons Percy Chato paid a courtesy call on him on Wednesday, Southern Province deputy permanent secretary Douglas Ngimbu expressed concern that it will be difficult to expand the prison if the squatters are not removed from the land immediately.
“We have serious challenges of encroachment on Choma Central Prison’s land, it is alleged that the council (Choma Municipal Council) allocated the land belonging to the Zambia Prisons Service land to some other developers.
“It will be difficult to expand the prison if this is left unchecked,” Mr Ngimbu said.
He said he has called for a meeting with Choma Municipal Council to establish how the alleged squatters encroached on Zambia Prisons Service land.
He also underscored the need to rehabilitate prison infrastructure countrywide so that inmates can enjoy their right to live in a clean environment.
And Mr Chato, who is in Southern Province to inspect prison facilities, said plans to construct a new prison in Choma are underway.
“Since Choma is now the provincial capital, we intend to build a modern Choma central prison to suit the provincial capital status and to accommodate all different classes of inmates,” he said.
Mr Chato, who has so far inspected prisons in Monze, Mazabuka and Namwala, noted that most prisons need complete rehabilitation because they are dilapidated.
“Most of the prison infrastructure is old; built in the colonial era, the sewer systems need a complete overhaul. our officers also need uniforms,” he said.
Mr Chato said Government is working hard to address the challenges that prison warders and inmates are facing.
Government is currently rehabilitating infrastructure at Namwala, Mazabuka and Livingstone prisons and Katombora reformatory school in Kazungula.
So it takes the commissioner’s visit for this news to come out and probably a follow-up action ? shame.!
We are not serious in zambia.
Some Masonic buildings are called “temples”, but generally only if they are build using temple style architecture, it is not called or considered a temple in the usual religious context. No legitimate Masonic organization would call itself a church. (as CL points out though, it is not uncommon for a Lodge to occupy an old church building or share a building with an active church.)
That said, Freemasonry is not a religion, so there is no unified “belief system” in any religious sense. Masons are required to hold a belief in a Supreme Being who is the Creator of the universe, but are free to belong, follow, worship, and adhere to most any faith as they see fit. Nearly any religion, faith, or belief system that follows that requirement is acceptable for membership. No worship of any…
Freemasonry is the world’s oldest and largest Fraternity. While its traditions look back to earliest history, Masonry in its current form appeared when its public events were noticed by the residents of London, England in 1717. Although Masonry – particularly in its earliest days – had some elements of secrecy, the first ‘exposure’ of the supposedly highly-secret Masonic ritual actually appeared in 1696! Since that time, there have been tens of thousands of books published about this ‘secret organization’. And for over three hundred years, despite the good works done by its members, Freemasonry has continually suffered the slings and arrows of those who seek to use it’s quiet nature against it.