Nakonde man proven innocent after spending 13 years in prison

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Nakonde man proven innocent after spending 13 years in prison

Chisanga Kalale says he was 15 years old when he was sentenced to 48 years’ imprisonment alongside his friend in 2010.

This was after they were found guilty of harbouring prohibited immigrants among other charges.

He claims he was recently found innocent following a judicial review.

“I was released on 10th March 2023 from Isoka Correctional Facility where I was transferred a few months ago from Mukobeko Maximum Correctional where I spent more years,” he told Chete FM News.

Chete FM News has not independently verified this case although Mr Kalale produced a stamped discharge note from Isoka Correctional Facility.

The 28-year-old says he was arrested when he went to visit his friend who was harbouring immigrants without his knowledge.

On the day the authorities carried out an operation, he was picked up together with the friend that he says was betrayed by others who did not receive money from the deal.

“One the day I was released, I didn’t look back because prison is not a place you would wish to live. I remember how we used to go to the farms in the morning until sunset.”

“There were times when I got sick and times when we would be beaten. It’s not a place to miss. I just thank God that I’m out of slavery.”

“It’s not a good place. Even cows sleep better than I used to sleep,” he says.

Despite the bad description of prison life, he says he has learnt some survival skills.

“Teachers used to come to teach us business and agriculture.”

He has spent the last few nights at the clinic and in the cold looking for his widowed mother, Agness Chibuye.

“I was found with malaria when I came to Nakonde. Unfortunately, on the way to the clinic I was involved in a motorbike accident that has left an injury on the left side of my eye.”

He says his grandmother from Mwinilunga district was the last known relative he met several years ago when his father died in a road accident in 2001.

Credit: Chete FM