By Tiyese Monjeza:
Zomba Mental Hospital (ZMH) Director General Raphael Piringu has disclosed that eight patients escaped from the facility in 2024.
Piringu said Wednesday that the figure marks a decrease from 30 patients that escaped from the facility last year.
“We have managed to reduce number of patients through expansion of the security fence at the facility. We have also trained security personnel in handling patients,” Piringu said.
He further said, the facility is grappling with maintenance works since patients mostly damage furniture and other items.
“We need regular maintenance of water taps, electrical wires, window panels and replacement of mattresses which patients destroy on daily basis. Our appeal goes to stakeholders to be assisting us with resources for maintenance works,” Piringu said.
On Christmas day, 420 patients were admitted to the facility.
News that the number of patients that escaped this year had plummeted comes after prisons registered a decline in the number of prisoners that escaped this year.
Regional commanding officer responsible for Southern Region prisons, Zacheus M’bawa, said last week that the region had reduced the number of prison escapees from five in 2023 to two in 2024.
“We, as a family, have done better in the year by registering a low number of prison escapees as opposed to last year,” he said.
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