New law aims to reserve incarceration for serious offenders while allowing some convicted of minor crimes to serve sentences within their communities Malawi is preparing to test a new approach to criminal justice after the Prisons Service announced plans to pilot community corrections programmes in four districts, part of a broader effort to address severe […]
A Malawian MP has hit out at the government’s decision to release prisoners, claiming some of those freed have gone straight back to committing crimes — sparking fury among local communities. Kondwani Nankhumwa, who represents Mulanje Central, told Parliament that the Ministry of Homeland Security’s recent mass release of prisoners has caused unrest in his […]
A senior officer at Chichiri Prison, Thomas Katambo, has appealed to communities across Malawi to welcome back individuals released from prison, arguing that acceptance is essential to curbing the country’s persistently high reoffending rate. Katambo said the tendency among some communities to shun or stigmatise former prisoners was, paradoxically, driving many of those individuals back […]
Six prisoners have escaped at Thyolo Prison, prison authorities have confirmed. Southern region prisons spokesperson Julius Magombo said the prisoners escaped from the prison on Tuesday by breaking through iron sheets at the prison’s toilet. Magombo said the prisoners jumped through the fence of the prison. “But the alert prison officers managed to recapture four […]
Three female prisoners at Mzuzu prison have been severely assaulted by both male and female junior prison officers because they were demanding to get life-prolonging antiretroviral (ARV) medication. A relative who went to visit a sister-in-law at the prison facility disclosed that one of the convicts was beaten to a point of sustaining a fracture on […]
Malawi Red Cross Society (MRCS) has noted that people depressed of their liberty, such as people in prisons and other places of custody are more prone to the deadly Coronavirus disease outbreak. Nsanje District MRCS Coordinator, Patricia Gadi made the remarks Wednesday after her organization’s volunteer invaded Nsanje Prison with awareness messages on how the […]
Mzuzu Prison has run out of its maize stocks beginning Saturday, and is currently in dire need of about 30 bags to get it through the weekend until it can replenish its stock once it buys from the Agriculture Development and Marketing Cooperation (Admarc) early next week. The prison’s chaplain, Fumbani Gondwe, who took a […]
Malawi’s longest serving prisoner Yale Maonga, 47, who has been incarcerated for 29 years said when he walked out to freedom that “God has been on my side. God has been faithful to me. I could have been dead and forgotten a long time ago.” Maonga, who was jailed when he was 18 year old […]
President Peter Mutharika has pardoned 197 prisoners as part of Easter commemorations, according to Ministry of Homeland Security officials. Sam Madula, principal secretary in the ministry said the prisoners who have been pardoned committed minor offences and displayed good character whilst in the cooler. This is the first time this year that Mutharika has pardoned […]
Prison warders have threatened a strike unless they are promoted enmasse too as was the case with teachers and police officers. The government has promoted 20 000 teachers and 7 000 police officers to various ranks within a month raising fears the Treasury mght not have enough money to pay for all these promotions. Opposition […]
Police in Ntcheu are investigating prison warders in Ntcheu who accidentally shot in the neck an 80 year old grand mother during a pandemonium at a forest reserve. Ntcheu public relations officer Hastings Chigaru confirmed the incident but said he was yet to get details on the shooting incident. But district forestry officer Ida Mkwezalamba […]
Prison authorities in the Northern Region have complained that some fraudsters are soliciting money from people whose relatives are in prison on pretext that they would facilitate their early release from jail. Northern Region Prisons Publicist, Austin Mwansangwale in an interview on Wednesday said the conmen are either claiming to be lawyers, court or prison […]
Malawi President Peter Mutharika has pardoned 283 prisoners from the country’s overcrowded jails under an amnesty to mark Christmas and New Year, the home affairs ministry said. “The pardon of the 283 prisoners by His Excellency the President is a symbol of forgiveness as the country commemorates its Christmas and New Year celebrations,” a statement […]
Malawi Prison authorities at Zomba Maximum Prison are keeping it wraps the number of injured inmates and warders following running battles on Thursday as authorities confisticated unauthorised items in prison cells. Prison spokesperson Smart Maliro confirmed there was an exercise to confiscate illegal items but refused to give details. “This is a routine exercise therefore […]
The Malawi Law Commission (MLC) has ruled out the possibility of considering inmates in Malawi prisons to exercise conjugal rights during their jail terms. Chairperson for the special Law Commission on the Review of the Prisons Act, Justice Ken Manda, said this on Thursday in Lilongwe where the Commission had a national consultative workshop with […]
Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) officials say they are investigating reports that a prisoner died at Mikuyu Prison in Zomba in a commotion that led to 16 others escaping. Peter Chisi, an official of MHRC said the commission received reports of the death of the prisoner last week. “We were told that he was killed […]
It has emerged that prison wardens brutally assaulted two inmates that escaped from Chichiri prison in January to the point that one dies and the other was on the brink of death and needed urgent medical attention. An amateur video taken from a mobile phone seen by Nyasa Times shows prison warders with attacking Madison […]
Inmates at Ntcheu prison have demanded that government should provide requisite funds to paralegal officers to start representing accused persons with minor cases in courts, arguing the development would reduce overcrowding in prison cells. The inmates said during the commemoration of World Human Rights Day. “It is worrisome that government is not doing enough to […]