Prison authorities decry outdated Act

 Malawi Prisons Service has lamented the 1956 Prisons Service Act which it says focuses on suppression and punishment of offenders, thereby contributing to congestion in correctional facilities.

Prisons Commissioner General Masauko Wiscot has since appealed to members of Parliament (MPs) to support the revised Prisons Service Bill when it is brought before Parliament to ease numerous challenges that prisons are facing due to use of the outdated Act.

He said this in an interview on Thursday on the sidelines of a cocktail organised by the Centre for Human Rights Education, Advice and Assistance (Chreaa) at Bingu International Convention Centre in Lilongwe where various legislative reforms, including the Prisons Service Bill, were discussed.

Wiscot said the revised Bill would help ease congestion across the country’s prisons due to a parole system and community service that will be created, which are basically reform areas to help address the challenge of overcrowding.

He said: “Currently, the only way which is being used to decongest our prisons is through the presidential pardons. So, we feel that as a service, if the Bill is passed into law, with the new areas that will be introduced, the initiatives will help decongesting”.

Wiscot said the outdated Prisons Service Act has provisions outlawed by the Republican Constitution adopted in 1994 yet it still remains in use.

However, he was quick to point out that the presidential pardons have managed to partly ease congestion saying since 2020 up to date, over 6 000 prisoners have been released.

Chreaa executive director Victor Mhango in a separate interview expressed frustrations, saying it is surprising that the Bill is not given the priority it deserves.

“The Act is inconsistent with our laws and it is high time that we need to change as we are heading towards reformation with the prison to be called correction services which is good progress,” he said.

Parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs chairperson Peter Dimba, in a separate interview, said they will take up the matter with relevant authorities as they intend to summon them on numerous legislative reforms.

In 2013, a Special Law Commission drafted a new Bill which was published in 2018. But since then, it has remained stuck at the Ministry of Justice.