Malawi President, Lazarus Chakwera, has pardoned 49 prisoners as part of Easter holiday celebrations.
This is according to the press statement from Homeland Security which was signed by the Principal Secretary Dr. Steven Kayuni.
Chakwera has pardoned the inmates using Section 89(2) of the Constitution of the Republic of Malawi, Section 111 of the Prisons Act, and the Guidelines for the Granting of Pardon to Convicted Persons.
These include convicted prisoners who have served half of their sentences, the chronically ill, the elderly, and female convicts who were accompanied by their children to prison.
The State President has also reduced the sentences of all other prisoners by Six months as an act of clemency during this Easter Holiday as part of de-congesting the overpopulated prison facilities.
Minister responsible, Kenneth Zikhale Ng’oma said the pardoning of the prisoners is an act of mercy in this Easter season as Christians across the world commemorate the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
He said that this is the best time to reflect on our shortfall as a nation and reconcile with one another.
“It has pleased the state president Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera to pardon a total of 49 prisoners as part of Easter celebrations.
“The Constitution gives the mandate to the state president to pardon prisoners who have behaved well during the time of their stay in prison. This is the time when we reconcile as a country,” Ng’oma said.
Last year, during the same period, Chakwera pardoned Uladi Mussa who was among 200 prisoners released as an act of mercy.
Mussa is a former minister of Homeland Security who served under the late President Bingu wa Mutharika before his arrest and conviction in 2020 and he was placed on a U.S. travel ban.
