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Rehabilitating Law Offenders in Malawi

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Historical Background

Here is a brief synopsis of historical information of the Malawi Prison Service traced as far back as 1890 after the Declaration of Malawi (then Nyasaland) as British Protectorate.

Prior to the Great War (World War 1), there was neither a Prison Department nor any officer especially appointed to take charge of Prisons in Malawi. Nevertheless, there existed European Goals in Blantyre, Zomba (in the Military Cantonment) and local goals in some of the districts.

The local goals were for the reception of prisoners with sentences not exceeding six months and were under the control of District Commissioner with Civil Police as Warders. While the Central Prison in Zomba was for the reception of long-sentenced prisoners and was under the officer commanding troops (Kings African Rifles (KAR).

The European Goal in Blantyre, which was under the charge of a Superintendent, was for the detention of Europeans only.

In 1899 PDH Piers took up the appointment of Superintendent of the European Goal and in 1901 Mr G.F. Manning took up a similar appointment in Zomba. These officers were also known as Chief Constables.

In April 1913, a Prison Service was started with the appointment of a Deputy Superintendent of the Central Prison in Zomba, and the post of Chief Constable started to go away.

In 1916 the Holder of the post of Deputy Superintendent was seconded to the KAR Reserve.

In 1918 a new post of Superintendent, Central Prison, was formed and was filled in 1919 after completion of a New Central Prison just outside the Military Area.

In 1920 the Prison Department was formed with headquarters at Zomba and the newly appointed Commissioner of Police was made Chief Inspector of Prisons. In those Districts where European Police Officers were in-charge of Police stations, these officers became Superintendents of the local prisons while others remained under the district commissioners subject to the control of the Chief Inspector of Prisons.

In 1943 a Commissioner of Prisons was appointed and the Commissioner of Police had no more control over the administration of Prisons.

In 1954 the administration of prisons was taken over by the Federal Government (Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland) and the British Rule.

Administration and Organizational Structure:
Originally, the Country was divided into two regions i.e. Southern Province (now Southern Region) and Northern Province (Now Central and Northern Regions). In the southern province, there were nine prison goals: Port Herald (Now Nsanje), Cholo (Thyolo), Chikwawa, Blantyre, Mlanje (Mulanje), Chiradzulu, Zomba, Liwonde and Fort Johnston (Mangochi). And in the Northern Province there were ten prison goals: Ncheu (Ntcheu), Dedza, Fort Manning (Mchinji), Dowa, Lilongwe, Kasungu, Kota-kota (Nkhota-kota), Chinteche (Nkhata-bay), Mzimba and Karonga.

As stated earlier, the Blantyre prison was for the detention of Europeans only and Zomba Central Prison was clearly demarcated to hold Europeans, Asiatics or Coloureds, African Males and African Females separately.

The Prison Department had an establishment of 169 personnel distributed as follows Commissioner of Prisons 1; Superintendent 1; Deputy Superintendent 1; Gaoler 1; Chief Warder 1; Head Warders 4; 1st Class warder 7; 2nd Class Warder 12; 3rd Class Warder 30; 4th Class Warder 34; 5th Class Warder28; 6th Class Warder 22; Trade Warder 4; Probationary Warder 13; Head Wardress 1; and Wardress 3.

Although upon attaining independence in 1964 from the Federal Rule and some of the problems like racial discrimination removed, hardships remained in prisons. Instances of torture, arbitrary arrests, force labour, just to mention a few, were still rampant. It was until the coming of the democratic government and with assistance from the international community that life in Malawi Prisons has tremendously improved.

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