Police need vehicles to take prisoners to court, says officer

PRISONERS have the right to go to court, the officer-in-charge of police prosecutions, James Wafihuambu, said on Wednesday.
Wafihuambu made this remark following reports that the prosecution division was handicapped in transporting prisoners on remand for their cases at the National Committal Court.
He said the only two prison vans used by the division had broken down last year.
“This is a management issue and that needs addressing. These are things beyond our control and we cannot go on like this,” he said.
He said there was a need to have proper prison vehicles to transport people from jails to court.
“There are security concerns and risks involved when we transport prisoners along with our staff.”
He said usually 30 remandees were transported to court daily.
He said the division had made efforts to ensure prisoners in their care, especially at the Boroko police cells, were taken to the committal court.
He said those held at Bomana jail would not have been able to attend their mention hearings.
Wafihuambu said other issues of concern included manpower and fuel.
“We are given 20 litres of fuel daily but that is not enough,” he said.
Efforts to contact the Acting Commissioner Police logistics for a comment were unsuccessful yesterday.