Zambia calls for non-custodial terms to decongest jails

Zambian Vice President Rupiah Banda has said non-custodial sentences could reduce the cost of running prisons and ease congestion.

Sunday Mail quoted him as saying in Kabwe, capital of Central province, that Zambia and many countries have continued to face the problem of congestion in their prisons, hence there is a need for concerted efforts by prisons and correctional services in the region to address the problem.

In his written speech read by Home Affairs Minister Ronnie Shikapwasha on Saturday in commemoration of the prison day, he said that the prisons act, the penal code and the criminal procedure code of the country had all been amended to provide for community service sentencing.

Parole is another method the Zambia Prison Service (ZPS) should explore to decongest prisons, he said.

Zambia is one of the African country with the problem of prison congestion. Lusaka Central State Prison had a capacity of 120 when it was built 82 years ago and now houses 1,571 prisoners, 13 times of the designed capacity.

Source: Xinhua