National Initiative for Civic Education (Nice) Trust has urged political parties and aspiring candidates in Thyolo to take their campaign messages to prisons to enable inmates make informed decisions ahead of the September 16 General Election.
Nice Thyolo district programmes officer Moses Kaunda said this on Monday during a voter civic education session at the district’s all-female prison.
national issues. l Ayamba Kandodo
During the visit, Nice Trust also donated soap and sugar to 52 inmates at the facility.
Kaunda stressed that inmates, like all citizens, have the right to vote and deserve access to information to help them choose leaders who will implement national development.
“Inmates are human beings and citizens with constitutional
rights, including the right to vote. Their separation from society should not mean they are abandoned. They deserve to hear from those seeking office,” he said.
Kaunda further appealed to all candidates to allocate time to visit correctional facilities and engage inmates on their manifestos.
In the same spirit, I call upon organisations involved in voter civic education to extend their outreach to prisons. Inmates must be kept informed on electoral processes and their role in them,” he said.
The facility’s station officer Modesta Wadabwa commended Nice Trust for the initiative, saying it empowers inmates with essential knowledge to participate meaningfully in the electoral process.
“Inmates must be included in national development efforts. What Nice Trust has done today is commendable, it has given the inmates the right information about the elections,” she said.
Speaking on behalf of fellow inmates, Ethel Makwinja thanked Nice Turst for the information.
“We will now vote with confidence. But we still need more information about the election and the candidates contesting,” she said.
Nice conducted the event with funding from the European Union under Boma Lathu project.
