• Zimbabwe began releasing over 4,000 prisoners under a presidential amnesty hoping to ease overcrowding in jails.
• Former prisoners have previously complained about harsh conditions such as overcrowding, a lack of food and poor health care.
• Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services spokeswoman Meya Khanyezi said the amnesty would “go a long way in reducing the prison population.”

Zimbabwe has begun releasing more than 4,000 prisoners under a presidential amnesty that authorities say will help ease congestion in some overcrowded jails.

About 800 prisoners were released Friday from the Central Prison and Chikurubi Maximum Prison in the capital, Harare. Jails in other parts of the country began releasing prisoners who qualified for the amnesty on Thursday, said Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services spokeswoman Meya Khanyezi.

She said the amnesty would “go a long way in reducing the prison population.” Zimbabwe’s prisons have a capacity of 17,000 but hold more than 20,000 inmates.

Former prisoners have in the past complained about overcrowding and other harsh conditions such as a lack of food and proper health care. Amnesty International has previously described the conditions as “deplorable.” The Southern African nation of 15 million people regularly uses the presidential amnesty to decongest prisons.

A beneficiary of the latest amnesty, John Mafararikwa, who was serving a 17-month sentence for theft, expressed relief.

“It’s overcrowded and the food is bad. Most of the time we would eat food prepared without cooking oil,” said the 71-year-old, boarding a prison bus taking him and other amnesty beneficiaries away from Harare Central Prison.

Song, dance and prayers marked the event. Some people of advanced age walked with the aid of crutches. A small group wore graduation robes after receiving diplomas in bible studies.

At Chikurubi Maximum Prison, freed women prisoners hugged prison officers, while men rushed for the back of an open truck waiting to transport them from the jail. Others thanked President Emmerson Mnangagwa for showing mercy.