Leader of the House Richard Chimwendo Banda has thrown weight behind the proposal to have Paralegals represent less privileged in subordinate court if the country is to decongest its prisons.
This comes as his ministry Homeland Security is set to bring to Parliament the Correctional service Bill that’s seeks to transform Prison to Correctional service.
This also comes as Ralph Jooma, member of Parliament for Mangochi Monkebay who is also Chairperson for Defense and security committee of Parliament brought a question to the Minister on Tuesday seeking measures being put in place to decongest prisons.
Speaking to MIJ Online, Jooma gave examples of Maula prison which is supposed to house 800 inmates but now has 2900 inmates and Zomba maximum prison which is designed to house 800 but now has 2800 inmates.
According to Jooma this must be looked into as it is a human rights issue.
But in his response, Chimwendo Banda said there is need to invest in Judicial systems, Police service, the Correctional services and the Paralegals if this problem is to be dealt with.
There has been a proposal to amend the Legal Aid Bureau Act to allow legal assistants limited audience in magistrate’s courts to offer legal representation to the underprivileged has enjoyed massive support from the Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament, the Judiciary and several other stakeholders, including civil society organisations and some individual practising lawyers.