Zimbabwe has released about a fifth of all prisoners under a presidential amnesty order meant to decongest the country’s overcrowded jails.

The Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service (ZPCS) said more than 4,000 inmates - mostly men - were let out, in what it described as a noble gesture.

Violent criminals as well as those convicted of robbery, treason and public order offences were excluded.

Prisons in Zimbabwe are suffering from extreme overcrowding.

The move comes ahead of general elections in August.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa is battling a cost of living crisis, high inflation and power cuts.