Malawi: 300 Inmates Benefit From Cela's Grants - organization provides grants to inmates who could not pay fines below K10, 000

AllAfrica
Nkhata Bay — Over 300 inmates in eight prisons and reformatory centers in the country have benefitted from Center for Legal Assistance (CELA) K10, 000 fines the organization pays to courts on their behalf as one way of decongesting the country's prisons.

CELA Legal Officer, Raymond Mwale, disclosed this on Wednesday at Nkhata Bay Prison during a Theater for Development Programme under a three year project called Improving Living Conditions for Youth, Women and vulnerable males with funding from Royal Norwegian Embassy where among other activities, inmates showcase drama on their rights.

Mwale said that his organization provides grants to inmates who could not pay fines below K10, 000

"As CELA, one of the things we do is to provide grants to inmates who could not afford to pay fines below K10, 000 and so far, we have assisted over 300 inmates in six prisons and two reformatory centers in the country," Mwale explained.

He further said that the criterion for one to benefit from the grant is to serve a sentence for some time.

"For one to benefit from the grant, he or she should have served part of the sentence and that the fine should be below K10, 000 so that we several inmates. The reason for doing this is to decongest our country's prisons," Mwale said.

According to CELA Legal Officer, Maula, Kasungu, Nkhotakota, Dedza, Mzuzu and Nkhata Bay are the prisons that have benefited from the facility while Kachere and Byazi reformatory centers have also benefited from the same.

Apart from providing grants to inmates, Mwale also said his organization provides transport money to those released under their grants that come from other districts and within the district of the prison they were serving but far.

During the organization's visit to Nkhata Bay Prison, CELA donated disinfectants namely soap and chlorine, and First aid box worth about K100, 000.

Officer in Charge of Nkhata Bay Prison, Elliton Kadolo commended CELA for supporting the prison in many ways, urging the organization to reach out to more inmates with the grants.