Malawi needs to significantly strengthen rehabilitation and reintegration programmes for prison inmates, a governance expert has warned, following concerns that some beneficiaries of presidential pardons have gone on to reoffend.
Dr George Chaima said in an interview on Wednesday that pardons should be accompanied by deliberate interventions to prepare inmates for life outside prison, arguing that correctional facilities ought to focus on reform rather than punishment alone.
"Prisons are not meant for punishing those who are inmates, but rather to reform them and correct their behaviour," he said.
Chaima said inmates should have the opportunity to acquire marketable skills during their time in custody, in order to become self-reliant once released, and called on government to consider support mechanisms such as funding or credit facilities to help former inmates rebuild their lives.
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His comments follow concerns raised in Parliament on Monday by Kondwani Nankhumwa, MP for Mulanje Central, who told the House that 10 boreholes in his constituency had been vandalised.
Police investigations led to the arrest of three suspects, who were reportedly among individuals recently released under presidential pardon.
Minister of Homeland Security Peter Mukhito acknowledged the problem, telling Parliament that police were seeing a growing number of criminal cases involving people recently released through presidential pardons.
Mukhito said the Malawi Prison Service was working to improve its rehabilitation programmes, but that financial constraints -- stemming from inadequate government funding and declining support from development partners -- were hampering efforts to reform inmates ahead of their release.
Chaima's remarks echo wider regional efforts to strengthen correctional systems.
At this year's SADC Heads of Corrections, Prisons and Penitentiary Services Conference, held in Salima, member states called for greater investment in rehabilitation programmes and support systems to help offenders successfully reintegrate into their communities.
