Prisoners sue government

• Claim damages for overstaying in jail
• MHRC yet to investigate allegations

A poor record keeping system and inefficient tracking methods in the criminal justice system has led to some prisoners overstaying in prison.

While such issues are rumoured to be highly prevalent in the country’s prisons, Malawi Human Rights Commission ( M H R C ) executive secretary Grace Malera has said the commission was yet to investigate the allegations.

“ We will need to investigate these claims, but at the moment we also need to revisit our records if we have also recorded any official complaints,” said Malera.

However, two victims of the system have since sued government for keeping them in incarceration beyond the time they should have served.

Attorney General Kalekeni Kaphale has confirmed there are some pending court cases over similar circumstances. According to court records, Daniel Harry, currently detained at Zomba Central Prison, is accusing the State of unlawful detention.

He was supposed to be out of jail since he entered as a juvenile months ago, but authorities refuse to release him.

Michael Goba Chipeta, a lawyer representing Harry, said in an interview on Tuesday they have already made an application, asking the court to immediately release him or provide reasons it wants to keep him in detention.

“The subject in question has been imprisoned beyond his time of release. Upon review of his case, it is clear he is supposed to have been released,” said Chipeta.

An affidavit by assistant State advocate Jean Primita, which gives a background of Harry—a convict of bribery and theft sentenced in 2010— then 18, was supposed to be released by now.

The affidavit also indicates that Harry was to serve 100 months of imprisonment (eight years), but falls short of detailing when exactly he was due for release bearing in mind that part of his sentence was to be reduced as a first offender and on account of the period of remand.

The affidavit, however, says as a juvenile at Mikuyu Juvenile Centre, Harry had once attempted to escape from jail, but the remission time he lost as a consequence was 60 days.

“That, unfortunately, the applicant ran away from Mikuyu Juvenile Centre. That applicant was rearrested and placed at Chichiri Prison and later [Zomba] Maximum Prison where he currently is. That the applicant’s escape from Mikuyu Centre did not constitute good conduct at all, and, therefore, occasioned him loss of remission of his sentence. That according to the Prisons Act, the loss of remission should only be of a maximum 60 days. That accordingly, he is due for release from prison,” reads part of affidavit.

According to Goba, the juvenile was supposed to serve half of the sentence as per standard practice. John Nachuma, currently at Chichiri Prison, was also supposed to be out of jail early February this year, but up to now he is still in according to a human rights group which has taken up his case for review in court.

The 36-year-old Nachuma was initially supposed to serve a sentence that would have seen him jailed up to 2021, after conviction on three accounts of theft, but after the High Court reviewed his case, the sentence was to expire on February 14 2016. But up to now, he is still waiting for papers (reduction order) and nothing is being done.

Victor Mhango, executive director of Centre for Human Rights Education, Advice and Assistance (Chrea), said such cases are widespread in the country’s prisons. According to Mhango, prison authorities mostly stick to the released dates stamped by the High Court, without considering the actual dates of release.

However, AG Kaphale in an interview, while not specifically acknowledging facts of the present cases, said the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is reviewing several cases, arguing that his office was only involved when the inmates sued government.

spokesperson Mlenga Mvula said they will need to liaise with prison authorities to first find out circumstances behind inmates serving beyond jail term.

Malawi Prison Service spokesperson Smart Maliro could not immediately explain reasons behind ‘illegal detention”, saying there is need for thorough research on their backgrounds. “We need to go back to our records and cross-check each and every name mentioned,” said Maliro.