Despite the Presidential clemency reducing the prison terms of some inmates at the Buea Central Prison, as part of celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the country’s reunification, most of the inmates who benefited from the pardon, but could not pay their fines to the State, were held back in detention to either meet up with their financial obligations or spend additional time behind bars.

This additional time, the state stressed, had to be commensurate with the amount of money charged.

It is within this backdrop, that a non-governmental organisation, Association du Coeur pour les Prisons, ACP, saw the deplorable and suffocating living conditions of the inmates and wrote to the Albert Roger Milla Foundation, Coeur D’Afrique, requesting the foundation to come to the aid of inmates at the Buea Central Prison.

It is in line with ACP’s request that on July 10, 2014, Cameroon’s Roving Ambassador, Albert Roger Milla and a team of medics, were in the Southwest Region to assist inmates of the Buea Central Prison.

The medical team, under the umbrella of Coeur D’Afrique Foundation, carried out free medical consultations, checkups and administered medication to sick prisoners. Aside from the free medical consultations, the Roving Ambassador paid the fines of some nine inmates that benefited from the Presidential clemency, but were still held back in prison because of their inability to pay their fines.

Addressing the inmates, Roger Milla said he was honoured to stretch out a hand of fellowship to his brothers and sisters in prison. He exhorted those who have benefited from the pardon to shun crime and lead exemplary lives, so that people would understand that prisons are corrective and not institutions of condemnation. Milla warned the released inmates to never return to prison.

For those still languishing behind bars, the soccer icon encouraged them to be hopeful, respect prison administrators and keep hoping that one day they will also regain their freedom.

Earlier, in his welcome address, the Superintendent of the Buea Central Prison, Thiery Joel Fopa, thanked the Roving Ambassador and the President of ACP for what he termed “a humanitarian gesture from the heart.”

According to the Superintendent, Milla and the ACP President have helped in decongesting 11 cells which accommodate some 792 inmates, a number four times larger than the original capacity of the prison.

Fopa thanked the Buea Council for the support given to the prison and called on other organisations to follow the example of ACP, Coeur D’Afrique Foundation and the Buea Council in improving the living conditions of the inmates.

Speaking on behalf of the released prisoners, Alain Emmanuel Fru thanked ACP and Coeur D’Afrique for coming to their aid.

According to Fru, since the Presidential sympathy, not up to nine prisoners have been able to leave the prison cells in a day. So, the release of nine of them at the same time will greatly help in decongesting the prison cells. He promised that they will lead exemplary lives thereafter.

Fru, nonetheless, said the prison is plagued by a litany of problems amongst them overcrowded cells, inadequate food supplies, insufficient medical attention.

Meanwhile, the Attorney General of the Southwest Court of Appeal, the Deputy Mayor of Buea Council - Motomby Mbome and ACP President Francis Mpen Mei, all exhorted the released inmates to pick up the pieces of their lives and forge ahead, avoiding acts that will bring them back to the prison.