Maravi

Explore community service to reduce prison congestion - Malembeka

Explore community service to reduce prison congestion - Malembeka
By Edwin Mbulo and picture By Eddie Mwanaleza
Sun 06 Feb. 2011, 04:01 CAT

CONGESTION in prison continues to be a major source of concern in society. This problem has led to an increase in many undesirable vices as prisoners are left to live in inhuman conditions, subsequently making reformation difficult. The slow pace of the justice system has been blamed for the congestion as thousands remain in custody waiting for their cases to be disposed of.

Much as efforts are being made by the government to improve infrastructure for the courts to ensure that many cases are heard, the problem still exists and there is need for serious attention to the matter.

The Prisons Care and Counseling Association (PRISCCA) is one such organisation that is trying to address the welfare of prisoners in the country.

Association executive director Godfrey Malembeka says there are over 6,000 inmates waiting for their cases to be disposed of.

Malembeka says he recently asked parliamentarians to work towards ensuring that the justice system used non-custodial sentences for certain offences to reduce the numbers of people sent to prison.

Currently, according to Malembeka, the country has no legal instrument that compels judges, magistrates and presiding justices to impose non-custodial sentences such as community service.

“We have 16,000 to 17,000 prisoners in a space that was meant for 5,000. How do you keep people like this? Out of these, 6,000 are remandees. These are free people who are voters. We are keeping people who are innocent until proven guilty. The 6,000 are free,” he says.

Malembeka says the prisons have no well-defined areas for patients suffering from tuberculosis and this poses a risk for the other inmates.

Recently, home affairs minister Mkhondo Lungu launched the TB outreach project at Lusaka Central Prison which would also cover Kabwe complex and Livingstone prisons to enhance mass TB screening of prisoners and staff, thus implementing TB-HIV sensitisation.

Lungu said, “statistics indicate that TB related illnesses are a major health challenge in our prisons mostly attributed to the fact that people who are in incarceration are usually close to each other due to limited space.”

This is a problem that Malembeka says affects prisoners greatly.

He says the problem of fuel allocation for transportation of remandees to courts should also be addressed by ensuring that the prisons service overlooks the allocation and not the police to avoid setbacks.

However, he says it is good that the prisons now have a medical doctor as opposed to the previous scenario where it was difficult to get inmates to the hospital.

He says the government should now move a step further by increasing the number of clinics at the prisons from the current 15 against the country’s existing 86 prisons.

“When you look at the prisons Act Chapter 53 Section 71 and 72, prisoners have no full right to health. It states that the officer-in-charge shall select or allow who is to get treatment but when it comes to the inmate there is a doubt as it states that the inmate may access treatment and care,” he says.

“The prison Act requires that the officer-in-charge authorizes the movement of the prisoner and with the shortage of manpower it becomes very difficult to implement this.”

Malembeka spent four years in prison and decided to form an association after he was released to champion prisoners’ human rights.

“The congestion in prisons is so high that it is a breeding ground for airborne diseases.
Government needs to build two to three new prisons instead of just rehabilitating the old ones,” he says.

He says his association sensitises prisoners on their rights.

“With the funding from the European Union (EU), we have acquired desks and we hope prisoners can do distance learning and also write books on issues such as HIV/AIDS,” Malembeka says.

Due to the association’s programmes with the help of a grant from Alliance, he says, cases of sodomy in prisons are declining.

“Sodomy and drug abuse in prisons is a known factor but to what extent needs a research. But with the coming of PRISCCA we have seen a reduction. You can’t stop people with a whip or with guns. But we have told our friends the consequence of drug abuse and sodomy and some of my friends have lost remission because of cases such as fighting,” he says.

“As at now we have a Parole Board. Prisoners can be able to go on leave and so far we have released about 340 prisoners. We are checking on them and so far there is no complaint.”

He appeals to the prison-based non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to work together so as to strengthen advocacy.

“We need to strengthen our mouth piece on issues that are very important that we want the government to change issues. We want to be united, we want all our colleagues that are interested in prison work and all let us be united, knocking on the right ministries and knocking on the doors of the parliamentarians,” says Malembeka.

Labels: PRISONS

posted by MrK @ 7:33 AM