Detainee dies at Bulungu prison as more than 90 fall ill
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Mediacongo
A detainee died on 23 October at Bulungu Central Prison in Kwilu, where more than 90 detainees are reportedly seriously ill for lack of food and medicine. Local civil society president Me Dirigeant Munzende says the prison has received no subsidy from the central government for at least nine months and is calling for urgent intervention.
A detainee died on Friday 23 October at Bulungu Central Prison in Kwilu province, where more than 90 others are reportedly in critical condition for lack of food and medicine, according to Me Dirigeant Munzende, president of the local civil society organisation, quoted by MediaCongo. The victim is said to have died after several weeks of food shortages. Another detainee in a similar condition was narrowly saved.
Civil society says the central government has not provided any subsidy to the prison for at least nine months and detainees have struggled to find food for two weeks. The prison health centre reportedly no longer has the necessary medicines, while a lack of space prevents detainees from sitting down and sleeping properly, according to Me Dirigeant Munzende.
Civil society is calling for urgent government intervention to provide food and medical care and prevent further deaths. Nearly 15 detainees died between January and April 2025, mainly from malnutrition and lack of care, and at least five more deaths had been reported since the beginning of 2026, according to the same organisation.
The crisis in Bulungu follows warnings about detention conditions in other Congolese prisons, including Makala Prison, which suspended new admissions in Kinshasa on 21 October, and Lubumbashi, where 1,700 detainees were without water and electricity on 23 October.
