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Makala Prison, the site of a deadly failed breakout this week in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has been described as “hell” by those who have experienced its grim conditions. “Makala is a true hell,” Stanis Bujakera, a journalist and former inmate, said. Bujakera spent six months in the notorious prison last year after being accused of writing an article implicating the military in the death of an opposition politician.
“Makala is not a prison, but a detention center resembling a concentration camp, where people are sent to die,” he said. Located in the capital, Kinshasa, the prison was built to hold 1,500 inmates but now houses nearly 10 times that number. Its overcrowded population includes petty criminals, political prisoners, and murderers.
Human rights groups have long condemned the appalling conditions at Makala, citing severe overcrowding, inadequate food, and limited access to clean water. These issues were thrust into the spotlight after Monday’s failed breakout attempt, which resulted in the deaths of 129 inmates.
Interior Minister Jacquemain Shabani reported that two dozen prisoners were shot as they tried to flee, while the majority suffocated in a deadly crush during the chaos. The tragedy has reignited calls for prison reform in the DRC, where conditions at Makala and other facilities remain dire.
Four surviving inmates said that prior to the recent escape attempt, they had been held in sweltering, airless cells for more than a day-and-a-half without running water or electricity to power fans. Some prisoners broke out simply to escape the unbearable heat.
Stanley Bujakera, a journalist who spent six months in the notorious Makala Prison, described these conditions as routine. “Taps constantly run dry, and electricity is sporadic, leaving inmates in darkness for days,” he said. “Inmates are abandoned to overcrowded, unsanitary conditions that foster disease.” He added that deaths occur “every day” in the prison.
Rostin Manketa, executive director of the Congolese human rights group La Voix des Sans Voix, echoed this sentiment. Having visited the prison multiple times, he concluded that being sent to Makala is akin to being sent to “hell.”
Videos filmed by Bujakera during his time at Makala depict dozens of men sleeping tightly packed on the floor, with their limbs overlapping. Some prisoners even balance themselves on the narrow walls of shower stalls to find space to rest. Conditions are better in the VIP section, where wealthier inmates can pay for better treatment, including a bed and more space. Bujakera was asked to pay $3,000 but negotiated it down to $450. “Economic inequalities create a hierarchy,” he said, adding that the poorest inmates are left to fend for themselves.
Prisoners effectively govern themselves inside Makala, with wardens playing a minimal role. Human rights activist Fred Bauma, who was imprisoned there for 18 months, explained that inmates have their own rules, creating a system that fosters “harmful power dynamics” and violence.
Makala’s conditions are emblematic of the broader crisis in DR Congo’s prisons, which are chronically underfunded and overcrowded. The country’s jails rank among the most overcrowded globally, according to the World Prison Brief project. Deputy Justice Minister Samuel Mbemba acknowledged that the prison system is overwhelmed, with even mere suspects being sent to jail. Many prisoners spend months or even years awaiting trial.
Food is another major issue. Inmates at Makala are given just one meal a day, typically a hardened maize dish with watery stew, which lacks proper nutritional value. Many rely on relatives for sustenance, but those without family support often suffer. In 2017, 17 prisoners starved to death due to food shortages.
Manketa believes that the dire conditions at Makala likely contributed to the tragic escape attempt. He urges the authorities to build new prisons and improve existing ones to prevent similar incidents. Bujakera, now based in the U.S., called for swift action, warning that people are dying in the broken system. “It is a sick justice system,” he lamented, “and as Monday’s disaster shows, people are dying while waiting for a cure.”
