ACHPR/37/OS/11/437 16 - Most visits frustrated due to the fact that inmates imprisoned in institutions far away from their localities (New Bell, Bamenda Central, Mfou Women’s Prison, Bafang Principal); - Prison wardens arbitrarily blocked letters to families and friends, and refused to hand out such to prisoners (Marua Central, Bamenda Central); Prisoners and the authorities alike reported that visits by NGOs, religious entities and civil society organisations, however, were encouraged. Radios are generally allowed in prisons. In police stations, inmates reported that contact with the outside world was relatively better. Telephone calls, however, were denied to inmates due to various reasons at most of the detention centres visited. Leisure, exercise, work, access to education and other programmes While such activities were reported non-existent in almost all police stations and the gendarmerie, prison authorities reported that generally, leisure, exercise, work, access to education and related activities are not widely available to inmates due to extreme congestion, lack of resources, strict regime of prisoners control, and lack of qualified specialised prison staff like social workers. The main prisoners’ complaints in this regard included: - Structure and layout of the prisons restricting free space that could be used for sports and other leisurely activities; - Lack of access to external markets for handicraft and items made by prisoners; - Lack of appropriate training, skills development, and specific professional trainings in most of the prisons with a view to prepare them for reintegration into the society; - Lack of procedures enabling prisoners to continue education interrupted at the time of incarceration; - Lack of books and library facilities; - Lack of cheaper distance education facilities; In most prisons, inmates lived by strictly applied open-air hours usually running from 8:00 am. - 5:00 pm. during which they are mostly allowed to engage in various activities. Inmates in Mfou Women’s Prison engaged in minor sport activities on the courtyard, chain making, and tailoring. The prison also arranges for inmates to engage in farming by which prison labour is leased out to interested individuals living around the prison. Prisoners themselves, however, have been trying very hard in coping up with prison life through various gainful activities within the confines of the prison. In New Bell, for instance, prisoners have set up a huge open market in which they also sleep and engage in various business related activities as small