Parliament engages public on proposed abolition of death penalty

* The Committee would like to specifically hear from members of the general public who have a vested interest

* Such as individuals whose relations were murdered or whose relations were convicted of murder and sentenced to death

* Or individuals whose death sentence were commuted to a number of years and were subsequently released from custody

By Caroline Nyekanyeka

The Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament will from next week engage the public on the proposed abolition of the death penalty in Malawi, which was adopted by the august House as a Progress Report during the 2022-2023 Budget Session.

A public notice by the Clerk of Parliament, Fiona Kalemba says the progress report “sought the mandate of the National Assembly to allow the Legal Affairs Committee carry out public inquiries in order to thoroughly consult and solicit views from the general public on this very important subject matter before making recommendations to the National Assembly”.

The Committee is expected to hold the public enquiries in all three regions — starting with the Centre on Tuesday, May 10 at Parliament in Lilongwe followed by Grand Palace Hotel in Central Region’s City of Mzuzu on May 13 before dating the South at Amaryllis Hotel in Blantyre — all from 10:00hrs

Thus the Legal Affairs Committee “is inviting the general public and interested stakeholders to make written submissions to the committee on the matter or to attend the inquiry during which they can make oral submissions”.

“The Committee would like to specifically hear from members of the general public who have a vested interest in the matter such as individuals whose relations were murdered or whose relations were convicted of murder and sentenced to death or individuals whose death sentence were commuted to a number of years and were subsequently released from custody.”

For more information on the inquiry, the public is requested to contact the clerk for Legal Affairs Committee, Moffat Makande on 0888511574 or email moffat.makande@gmail.com