hadhwanaag
Malawi's president has
pardoned a former minister of Homeland Security who was jailed in 2020 for
corruption and placed on a U.S. travel ban. Uladi Mussa was among 200 prisoners
released as an act of mercy during Easter. But critics say his pardon raises
questions about the government's commitment to fighting corruption.
The Malawi government
said in a statement Monday that President Lazarus Chakwera has pardoned former
Homeland Security minister Uladi Mussa and also Jones Tewesa, a driver for the
Malawi Electoral Commission, or MEC, who was sentenced to 15 months last year
for obstructing a presidential convoy.
Tewesa was sentenced
alongside MEC Commissioner Linda Kunje, who was given 18 months on similar
charges but pardoned last year. A statement says Chakwera has also pardoned
18-year-old John Mussa, of no relation to the former minister, who in 2022 was
sentenced to eight years for marijuana possession.
Mussa’s sentence led to
public street protests and a legal challenge of the sentence, which was later
reduced to three years.
The government says the
pardon is in line with Malawi’s constitution, which gives the president power
to pardon prisoners who have behaved well in prison.
Michael Kaiyatsa is the
executive director for the Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation. He said
the pardon of former minister Mussa raises questions about the government's commitment
to fighting corruption.
"The law allows the
president to grant pardons on minor offenses. But this is a very serious
offense — corruption. So, it sends wrong signals that the administration is not
as committed as it seems. Also, considering the fact that he is a politician,
there has been a perception that politicians always back each other, and this
confirms that,” he said.
In 2019 the U.S.
government had imposed a travel ban on Mussa, who was a special adviser to
Malawi's former president, Peter Mutharika, because of corruption charges.
The U.S. Embassy in
Lilongwe told VOA by email that "the travel ban against the former minister is
still in place" and it has taken note of the pardon.
President Chakwera has
also reduced by six months the sentences of all prisoners serving determinate
sentences as a measure to decongest the prisons.
Victor Mhango is
executive director for the Center for Human Rights Education, Advice and
Assistance in Malawi, which has long lobbied for decongestion of prisons.
He welcomes the pardons
but calls for a speedy review of current prison legislation.
"Because the act we are
using now is an old version that was enacted in 1956, so that we should be
having a parole system, [where] we are supposed to have a parole board checking
behavior of prisoners. We believe that the current system is prone to
corruption. Who assesses the behaviors of prisoners? So, it could be prisoners
with names, the prisoners they can feel ‘these can support us.’ We are not only
speaking for this government, we have heard stories before,” he said.
The government,
however, said the pardons are an act of mercy toward prisoners during Easter.
VOA
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