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The Prisons Department on Thursday removed its Public Relations Officer Smart Maliro from his position after he told The Nation that President Bingu wa Mutharika did not pardon prisoners as part of the independence celebration, a departure from a tradition set by former presidents.
Maliro refused to comment on the matter yesterday but Commissioner of Prisons for operations Tobias Nowa confirmed that Maliro has been “assigned to other duties” and has had his title withdrawn for the interview he gave to the newspaper.
“All this is because of the article in the newspaper,” said Nowa.
He said the department is considering its final decision on the matter.
On Wednesday, three top prison officers, including deputy secretary for administration Tobias Maluwasa and deputy chief commissioner Macdonald Chaona came to Nation offices, asking that they be given information to help them compile a report which the President’s office requested on the matter.
They claimed that somebody’s job in the Prisons Department was at stake following the paper report.
The officers indicated that they were in trouble, especially because of the headline which read President sitting on pardons but that they were also not happy with the story because their department only forwarded the list of recommended prisoners to the Ministry of Home Affairs and that they were not involved with the President’s office.
And in a statement released on Thursday, Chaona said all issues that deal with public relations should now be channelled to Nowa.
The story in The Nation indicated that inmates who are chronically ill, those with less serious offences and those who showed signs of reformation were recommended for pardon but still waiting for the President’s decision.
The President is empowered by the Constitution, on Section 89 (2), to pardon convicted offenders, grant stays of execution of sentence and reduce sentences or remit sentences provided that decisions be taken in consultation with an Advisory Committee.
As of Thursday, there were 9,348 prisoners in the country’s prisons which are supposed to cater for only 5,000 inmates.
Just before he left office in May, former President Bakili Muluzi pardoned Shabir Suleman who was serving a five-year jail sentence term for attempting to bribe a High Court judge with K1 million on health grounds and earlier in April, the former head of state pardoned 320 prisoners, including Clive Macholowe, who is yet to answer a murder charge.
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