Tag Archives: Chimwemwe Shaba

Health, Malawi

Malawi’s Zomba Central Prison operating without water

Maravi Post Reporter
Zomba prison runs of water

BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)-Zomba Central Prison risk inmates contracting waterborne diseases as they have spent more than three days without water.

Inside sources confirmed there is no sanitation at the facility which is putting the prisoners at risk of contracting cholera and typhoid.

However, Chimwemwe Shaba, spokesperson of Malawi Prison Service has confirmed that there are water problems at the facility.

Shaba has said that the situation is due to technical problems in payment of the water.

But Shaba has said that the problem will be rectified by today, October 13, 2021 .

Besides,Shaba said the inmates are drawing water from houses belonging to officers at the prison.

Victor Mhango, Executive director of Chreaa, one of the organizations that advocate for rights of prisoners has confirmed that the organization has received reports that the inmates have stayed for four days without clean water because the water was disconnected due to bills.

Mhango said this is sad because the inmates depend on water for bathing, for toilets and cleaning.

He sympathizes with the prison department because it gets low funding in the budget.

Human Rights, Law and order

Malawi’s Zomba prison inmates demonstrate over poor food diet

Maravi Post Reporter

ZOMBA-(MaraviPost)- Zomba Central Prison inmates on Friday, morning, September 17, 2021 protested against poor diet.

Malawi Prison Service Spokesperson Chimwemwe Shaba confirmed of the strike in an interview with the press.

According to Shaba, the situation is under control now.

However, unconfirmed reports indicate that the prisoners have since gone on hunger strike.

It is said that the prisoners at the facility especially those who are allowed to work outside are not permitted to bring food supplements from outside including vegetables.

The prisoners also claim that the inmates are being given pigeon peas and nsima on daily basis.

Malawi

Malawi President Chakwera pardons 499 prisoners amid Covid-19 spike

Maneno Chimulala
Malawi Prisoners

BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)—President Lazarus Chakwera Friday pardoned 499 prisoners across the country in a bid to decongest the country’s prisons in the face of the novel Coronavirus which is currently spreading exponentially in the country.

Minister of Homeland Security Richard Chimwendo Banda confirmed the development.

It follows reports of rising cases of Covid-19 in the country’s prisons and as of Friday, the prison service had recorded 155 Covid-19 cases across the country.

Malawi Prison Service spokesperson, Chimwemwe Shaba, said they await receipt of all necessary documents from the line ministry to facilitate the release of the prisoners.

Maula prison in Lilongwe transferred all female inmates at the facility to other prisons to create space for an isolation centre amid the spread of the pandemic.

Through the initiative funded by the European Union (EU) to fast-track the review of some prisoners’ cases and decongest the country’s overpopulated prisons, about 1 392 inmates had walked to freedom in April this year.

Prior to the release of the 1 392 prisoners under the Chilungamo (Justice and Accountability) Programme, Malawi Prisons were home to 14 000 inmates against the design capacity of 5 5000, according to Inspectorate of Prisons Report of 2019.

The release of the 1 392 inmates, helped to decongest the prisons amid the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

Malawi

Malawi Government promotes junior prison officers

Maneno Chimulala
Malawi Prison officers

BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)—After holding a fierce strike that resulted in running battles with Malawi Police, junior prison officers can now afford a smile as government has bowed down to their demands, Maravi Post has established.

Prison warders started a nationwide sit-in yesterday to press for promotions, general welfare and their inclusion in the National Response to Coronavirus. 

The officers expressed their disappointment on how government treats MPS, especially through Ministry of Homeland Security.

“We would like to understand why we are treated differently from our fellow national security agencies like the Immigration and the Malawi Police Service.

“I mean, just look at how the ministry has allocated some funds for the fight against Covid-19 pandemic. While the two arms were allocated fat cheques, we did not get any. This is never about the money, but our safety; our welfare. It is like we work in a different country from our colleagues and it is not fair,” said one of the officers.

The junior officers even snubbed Malawi Prison Service (MPS) chief commissioner Grace Wandika Phiri’s attempts to address them.

According to our sources, Phiri attempted to address junior officers at the maximum security Zomba Central Prison following a letter her office issued summoning representatives of the staff to a meeting, but they chased her. She later drove to Lilongwe where she was again snubbed.

In Lilongwe, warders threw stones at senior officers who sat few metres away from the main entrance.

In the Northern Region, junior officers from Mzuzu, Rumphi, Nkhata Bay and Mzimba prisons joined the strike, demanding promotions government promised them last April following promotions in the Malawi Police Service.

But on Friday evening, Prisons spokesperson Chimwemwe Shaba confirmed that government has promoted all the junior officers to different ranks.

“Government has with immediate effect promoted all prison wardens to the rank of Sergeant, all sergeants to the rank of Geoler(Sub Inspector) and all Geolers(Sub Inspectors) to the rank of Inspector of Prisons,” Shaba wrote on Malawi Prison Services official facebook page.

Malawi

Malawi prison junior officers down tools over promotions, risk allowances

Richard Kayenda

Written by Richard Kayenda

Malawi Prison staff

Lowly ranked prison warders in the country have today started to down their tools in a bid to demand government to give them money in form of risk allowances,  Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and also promote them.

A snap short survey Maravi Post conducted this morning, has shown that the junior officers from Mzimba, Maula in Lilongwe, Kasungu and Zomba Prisons, have closed gates to the prisons and are not allowing anyone entry into the premises.

One of the officers who spoke to Maravi Post on the condition of anonymity said early last year, government promised to promote them, but since then no one of them received any promotion unlike their counterparts from Malawi Police Service (MPs) who got promoted last year; despite spending a short period of time in the service.

However, Spokesperson for Prison Services Department in the country, Chimwemwe Shaba, has said these officers have not followed right channels in exhausting their concerns, and that their top management is already in talks with government to address the concerns.

Reports indicate that the government allocated money to Malawi Defense Force, Malawi Police Service (MPS) and Immigration and Citizenship Services to be used for patrols as one way of intercepting illegal immigrants who may necessitate further spread of Covid 19 pandemic in Malawi