Idea #550 – Exploring Tamara Island and the former penitentiary of Fotoba in Guinea
The island of Tamara (or island of Fotoba) is one of the three main islands of the archipelago of Loos in Guinea. It shelters Tamara’s lighthouse(headlight), first school of the Republic of Guinea, an Anglican Church built in 1870, and penal colony of Fotoba.
The penitentiary of Fotoba, created in 1905 as a supplement to the Central penal camp of Conakry, opened since has at first welcomed at first the natives struck by punishments of confinement of more than 2 years, then the sick and those that it was considered necessary to take away from Conakry, which came to execute their punishments on the island. From 1918 until 1958, year of the Guinean independence, this penitentiary served as penal camp and as banishment for all the federation of the AOF, the French West Africa. In 1945, the prison of Conakry and the disciplinary jail of Fotoba were still the only concrete buildings of all Guinea.
Some Pictures
Where is it ?
Fotoba, Tamara Island, Guinea
