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Govt mulls reducing jail congestion
2007-04-11 08:36:35
By Juma Thomas, Dodoma
A total of 2310 prisoners have been released on parole progamme between 2002 and 2006, the House was told yesterday.
Deputy Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Mathias Chikawe said the government had been working tirelessly to find ways of reducing congestion in the country’s jails.
Chikawe, who was responding to a question from Dr Chrisant Mzindakaya (Kwela), admitted that many prisons were overcrowded by both convicted prisoners and remandees.
Mzindakaya had wanted to know whether the government has any plan to introduce suspended sentences to reduce congestion in the country’s prisons.
The minister said currently, there are 45,000 prisoners in the prisons countrywide against the required number of 22,699 prisoners.
He said courts had been given powers to mete out suspended sentences on lesser offences with a view of reducing congestion.
The minister said the Parliament had also enacted a law on parole whereby prisoners serving jail terms of four years and less and who hade shown good conduct, could be set free.
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