Over the weekend, 47 inmates escaped from a maximum-security prison located outside Liberia’s capital, Monrovia. According to the Justice Ministry, the escape occurred due to a breach in the prison’s security system in Kakata, a town northeast of the capital.
Authorities are working to recapture the escaped inmates, deploying additional police officers to assist in the search. The Justice Ministry expressed deep concern over the incident and vowed to take necessary measures to prevent further escapes.
Prisons in Liberia are notorious for overcrowding, with many inmates held without trial and facing severe shortages of food and medical care. Last year, several prisons ran out of food, forcing them to temporarily stop accepting new inmates.
Liberia’s justice system has struggled with high pretrial detention rates, with a 2022 U.N. report revealing that 73% of the country’s prison population were awaiting trial. The recent escape underscores the urgent need for prison reform in Liberia.