The government has put on hold the construction of courtrooms in prisons to allow more extensive discussions with the Superior Council of the Judiciary.

This was revealed by internal security minister, Sheikh Musa Fazil Harerimana, in an interview with The New Times.

"The initiative to build court facilities within the prisons countrywide where the inmates would be tried was put on halt because we agreed with the council to first discuss it extensively,” he said.

"Although the construction had started in some prisons, I instructed the prison’s service to halt the programme until further notice.

"Once we agree with the judicial council, the construction will resume because the initiative will benefit the public courts since the majority of the inmates will be handled within their prisons”.

He also said that, they are planning to reserve Ruhengeri prison for female inmates while Gisenyi prison will house males exclusively.

He stressed that, the only prison for children is Nyagatare prison which is also a youth correctional centre.

"We do not have plans to construct more prisons for children because children inmates are very few, the Nyagatare prison is enough to accommodate them,” he noted.

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