Malawi Prison Service has put under wraps details of the 21 inmates that President Lazarus Chakwera pardoned as part of this year’s Easter celebrations.
In an interview yesterday, Malawi Prisons national spokesperson Steve Meke declined to provide details of those pardoned, including the sentences they were serving citing security and privacy.
But he said those pardoned satisfied guidelines for the granting pardon to convicted prisoners.
Said Meke: “Our humble appeal to all Malawians is to provide a supportive environment to the inmates as soon as they are released. They deserve a second chance as they have been reformed while in prison.”
In a statement issued on Saturday announcing the pardons, Ministry of Homeland Security Principal Secretary Steven Kayuni said the pardoned convicts include those who have served half of their sentence and those chronically ill.
Reads the statement in part: “The prisoners who have been pardoned are those that have met the requirements of the Guidelines for the Granting of Pardon to Convicted prisoners and have demonstrated good behavioural reform while serving their sentences.”
It further stated that the President has also granted general amnesty to prisoners serving determinate sentences to decongest prisons and as an act of clemency. The general amnesty will lead to a reduction of the sentences by six months and, in the process, further reduce the prisons population by 14 percent.
Further reads the statement: “This general amnesty will only be applied to all convicted prisoners, except persons with relapsed criminal behaviour or recidivism, and those convicted of the following classes of offences: murder, manslaughter, arson, armed robbery, robbery with violence, burglary, rape, defilement, offences against persons with albinism and offences against persons with disabilities.”
Meke hailed the six months sentence reduction, saying it will help in decongesting prisons, ease cost of feeding inmates, help fight diseases and also ease pressure on medical services.
Currently, Malawi prisons accommodate about 17 000 inmates against the holding capacity of 8 000.
Meanwhile, Centre for Human Rights Education, Advice and Assistance executive director Victor Chagunyuka Mhango has welcomed the President’s move to pardon the prisoners and reducing others’ sentences.
In an interview yesterday, he said the act of mercy aligns with the spirit of Easter which is a time of reflection, forgiveness and renewal through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Mhango said such a gesture is especially significant in the context of Malawi’s overcrowded prisons, where many inmates endure harsh conditions and limited access to legal and psychosocial support.
He said: “While presidential pardons and sentence reductions offer temporary relief, they also highlight the urgent need for broader criminal justice reforms that promote rehabilitation, fairness and human dignity.”
Mhango, whose institution advocates for rights of prisoners, called for the continued use of Executive clemency powers in a transparent and inclusive manner that prioritises the most vulnerable inmates including those ser ving excessive sentences for petty offences, the elderly and those with health challenges.
In a separate interview, Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation executive director Michael Kaiyatsa also hailed the move and called for transparency in the identification of prisoners that deserve to be pardoned.
He said previously the pardon was abused to favour politically-connected prisoners, adding there is need to review the law on pardoning of inmates so that there is transparency.
Said Kaiyatsa: “Currently, the process is made in secrecy which raises suspicions of whether those being pardoned are deserving pardon.
“With the secrecy the process could be abused to favour certain people. The public needs to know who is being pardoned and conditions leading to pardoning.”
In 2009, the Constitutional Court, in the case of Gable Masangano versus the State, ruled that overcrowding and poor ventilation in prisons amount to inhumane treatment of inmates. The court ordered the State to reduce prisons overcrowding by half and also improve on ventilation.
Despite efforts to expand infrastructure capacity in the country’s prisons, as well as several presidential pardons, the prisons remain congested.
