REFERENDUM IS LOST OPPORTUNITY

Thu, 14 Sep 2017 14:53:42 +0000

By Chikumbi Katebe

GOVERNMENT says the Referendum on Bill of Rights could have gone long way in dealing with the problem of circumstantial children in correctional facilities.

Minister of Justice Given Lubinda lamented the failed Referendum process which he said could have assisted in providing a life for hundreds of children born of incarcerated mothers in Zambian correctional facilities.

He said it was unfortunate that Zambians failed to get the benefits of an amendments to the Bill of Rights to allow pregnant and lactating mothers to serve custodial sentences as opposed to incarceration.

“We lost an opportunity to allow our expectant mothers and lactating mothers from serving custodial sentences with their children, most of whom were born in correctional facilities.

“It could have gone a long way in the handling of circumstantial children serving jail sentences alongside their mothers. It is an emotional sight to see children made prisoners because of their mothers’ imprisonment,” he said.

He was speaking during the opening ceremony of the symposium on legal and administrative reforms to address congestion in correctional facilities in Zambia.

The Minister explained that there were many factors among them high legal fees, and lack of adequate legal practitioners, that contributed to the high numbers of inmates in correctional facilities, which result in unnecessary delays in the delivery of justice.

He said just a visit to Mukobeko maximum correctional facility revealed that over 200 cases remain unresolved and had not been cause listed and inmates could not go before court for various reasons.

He said in his quest to deliver justice, he personally facilitated for the 200 case files to go before  court through the office of the Chief Justice, which he reported were receiving the necessary attention.

And earlier, European Union head of delegation to Zambia and COMESA Alessandro Mariani affirmed their continued support to the Government in trying to meet expectations in improving living conditions for inmates at correctional facilities.

Dr Mariani said they were impressed with the efforts so far made to improve inmates’ lives at correctional facilities with the construction of a number of facilities with the aim of decongesting the facilities, but that so far the development have not changed much to show improvement.

And Germany ambassador to Zambia Mr Achim Burkart called for a systematic flow of the justice system to allow for the quick disposal of cases.

His specific focus was on young people who were forced to live with adult suspects in common facilities due to absence of juvenile facilities.

He also called for investment in skills training for inmates to allow their integration into society smooth once they left prison.