After seeing a recent 2014 documentary on the squalor that still remains Kondengui "Maximum" Prison, I told myself that something must definitely be wrong with us Cameroonians. Great Cameroonian writers like Dibuissi Tande, Boh Herbert, Albert Mukong, Nyo Wakai, Pius Njawe, Titus Edzoa, Jean Baptiste Nguini Effa, Bityeki Emmanuel, Atangana Mebara; have written on this same subject either as former or present inmates, Journalists or simple concerned citizens.
International NGOs, Catholic Charities, Human Rights Groups have on numerous occasions brought up the matter with Cameroonian authorities. Various foreign Embassies in Yaounde have decried the lamentable situation...YET...Absolutely nothing has changed. This is ridiculous and unconscionable.
There is absolutely no reason why an "eye sore" like this Kondengui Prison should still be allowed standing in the middle of a city in full expansion. We Cameroonians should be ashamed of ourselves. Citizens shamelessly drive their "grosses cylindrees" by this Kondengui death trap on a daily basis with not as much as a cursory look at the plight of their fellow compatriots who are dying like flies in the middle of the city. If na 4 knack mop, les Camerounais sont des champions. More than 2500 inmates have been awaiting trial for almost two years. We have to stand up and tell all those papa Senators and Deputes, the Prime Minister, SG at the Presidency to tell their original final Njimtete that "Trop c'est trop". This is just wrong.
1) Kondengui (as well as New Bell and other notorious Prisons) have to be removed from their present locations and plans for building new Prisons implemented immediately..
2) We are BEGGING the Y'de authorities that until further notice, not a single new Convicted felon or delinquent should be brought into these Penitenciary services or facilities.
3) Anybody "Awaiting Trial" for more than 12 months should be acquitted pure and simple. We (concerned citizens) are willing to help the Government with Prison Reforms if asked to do so.
NB: This is neither a "Francophone nor an Anglophone" observation. It is purely a humanitarian issue and has no Political undertones. I will in a subsequent mail, post the disturbing documentary video (filmed by professionals) that has sparked this recent outrage. Ih no good at all at all.
Culled fron D. Tande's blog
Kondengui Prison Is Hell On Earth
This is the famous Kondengui Prison in Yaounde – it was built to take 800 inmates. It has more than 4000 inmates today.
Colonel Chi Ngafor QS; We hear that Kondengui is a different world. Could you tell us some of your experiences in prison?
ANS: Kondengui is hell on earth. You can imagine a prison that was made for 800 people and at one time it harbours some 4500 inmates. I was sleeping on a little bed of 40cm wide and 180cm long in a room of 4mx4. They could say we were in the VIP quarters because we could afford our food and could arrange for our quarter to be cleaned. But, what about the others? If you go to Kondengui you would hear of Kosovo. Here, you find about 1300 people in a little quarter. A room that is supposed to take a maximum of 20 people is packed with 80 inmates, with three people lying on a little bed of 40cm wide. Sometimes, inmates are designated to rooms merely for identification as they will spend years around the veranda and outside under the shed because there is no space to step in. You can imagine what is happening in a quarter of 1300 people with three toilets. These same toilets serve as bathrooms. The trafficking there is just terrible. It is not worth describing.
QS: The trafficking of what?
ANS: Trafficking of everything; trafficking of cocaine and marijuana. At times, it is done with the knowledge of the Warders (Prison Guards). There, you find homosexuality at its peak. Those that have money go to those that do not have anything and arrange sex deals with them. The money can be only FCFA 100. The inmates are fed only once a day around 11 a.m. or midday and with nothing but palm full maize painted in palm oil. In Kondengui, if you haven't got anybody, you will die. There is not even a stretcher to carry the sick to hospital or the dead. They are carried on benches to a dispensary which has no drugs. You find moving skeletons in the name of people. Fortunately, the Catholic mission and an organisation that caters for prisoners have been of enormous help. They select those who are sick and give them special meals about once in three or four days.
QS: How many people did you see die in front of you?
ANS: I saw a minimum of four or five a week. If an inmate dies and does not have parents or relatives somewhere close, after 24 hours, the corpse is transferred to Soa. I think they have a dumping ground, a public cemetery where they bury the dead inmates. This is because there is no mortuary. - See more at: An Overview of Cameroon Prison Literature From Albert Mukong to Titus Edzoa - Dibussi Tande: Scribbles from the Den
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