Lilongwe Chief Magistrate, Madalitso Khoswe Chimwaza, has called for more support in technical education from stakeholders in order to impart technical knowledge and skills to women in prisons so that they can be empowered once they are out of prison.

Chimwaza made a call on Tuesday at Kachere Female prison in Lilongwe on the sidelines of International Human Rights day commemoration.

“Let me appeal to other stakeholders in the technical education sector like Teveta to come in and impart different knowledge and skills like carpentry, tailoring, baking among others so that once they are out of prison, they can be able to be independent at the same time preventing criminal behaviors,” She said.

Chimwaza commended the Paralegal Advisory Service Institution (PASI) and Irish Rule of Law for complimenting government’s efforts on making sure that the rights of the prisoners in the country are observed and respected.

Team leader for PASI, Alfred Munika, expressed commitment in involving different stakeholders in order to minimize the challenges prisoners across the country are facing.

“We will work hand in hand with Malawi Prisons Service (MPS) so that we can find relevant stakeholders who can come in with technical education, food and ways of decongesting our prisons,” he said.

Officer In Charge of Kachere Female Prison Patuma Chalimba commended efforts made by PASI and Irish Rule of Law saying their visit to the prison has helped to address some of the concerns the inmates had.

PASI and Irish Rule of Law donated various items to the prisoners.

Reported by Carolyn Khola.