Home Malawi Malawi’s 59th birthday: Chakwera pardons 2, 298 inmates

Malawi’s 59th birthday: Chakwera pardons 2, 298 inmates

locking them for the night. Overcrowding is a critical problem in Malawian jails. Chichiri Prison was built to house 800 prisoners instead of the 2000 currently detained there. According to medical statistics this specific cell 5, one of the most overcrowded, have the most case of viral transmissions (Tuberculosis, Hepatitis, Malaria, HIV) as well as the highest percentage of other diseases related to unhygienic conditions (Scabies, skin infections, rash).

LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-President Lazarus Chakwera has pardoned 2, 298 prisoners as part of the activities to mark Malawi’s 59th Independence Celebrations.

Malawians are tomorrow, Independence Day expected to trek to the Bingu International Convention Centre (BICC) in Lilongwe where main activities, which include prayers, speeches, and traditional dances, will take place.

Chakwera pardons 2, 298 prisoners as Malawi commemorates 59 years of independence

A statement from the Ministry of Homeland Security says Chakwera, who is exercising powers vested in under 89(2) of the Constitution of Malawi, has pardoned convicted prisoners who have served half their sentences, the elderly, the chronically ill and female convicts who were accompanied by their children to prison.

“The prisoners who have been pardoned are those that have met the requirements of guidelines for the granting of pardon to convicted prisoners and have demonstrated excellent reform while serving their sentences,” reads the statement.

Malawi got its independence from Britain in 1964.