By DANIELA ITOE NGUM
Some fifty prisoners of the Kumba Principal Prison, South West Region of Cameroon have regained their freedom.
The inmates were set free on Wednesday, April 22, 2020 in an official ceremony presided at by the Senior Divisional Officer, SDO for Meme, Chamberlain Ntou’ou Ndong at the esplanade of the Kumba Principal Prison.
Speaking during the ceremony, the Superintendent of the Kumba Principal Prison, Lionel Nyenty Ebot while welcoming the SDO revealed that a total of 173 inmates benefited from the largess of the President to decongest prisons in Cameroon but only 50 will be released.
“We have 240 inmates in the prison; among this number based on the modalities of the decree, only 173 were eligible. Meanwhile out of 173 based on their remaining sentences, only 50 can immediately benefit since some still have five years sentence because if you are benefiting from a remission of three years you still have some time left to serve, reason why 50 of them are going out immediately while some will follow afterwards”, the Superintendent said.
He noted that even before the President’s decree, the Kumba Principal Prison was already decongested though the measure has gone a long way to improve on it.
Addressing the inmates, Meme SDO, Chamberlain Ntou’ou Ndong noted that those to be released have demonstrated a degree of good character. He called on them to make good use of the second chance given to them by the President of the Republic. He told them that their detention is proof that their lifestyle was not in accordance with the law. He therefore called on them to amend their ways, look for something better to do that can improve on their living standard and endeavour to be law abiding.
The SDO also told the 50 freed inmates that he will not like to see any of them again in prison. Meanwhile, to the other detainees, he called on them to continue to uphold moral standards so as to secure their freedom in the future.
The 50 freed inmates, happy with their new found freedom, promised never to go back to prison. The event equally saw the presence of the State Counsel for the Court of First Instance, Kumba and the Meme High Court President, Justice Emmanuel Afah Annah as well as other administrative and security officials.