Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa has pardoned 3 000 prisoners on his country’s 41st independence anniversary on Monday, a statement announced.
”The pardon is expected to reduce congestion in prisons and
benefit those serving jail terms of less than two years who have demonstrated good conduct while in prison,” said the statement issued by State House representative Maura Mwingira.
The Tanzanian mainland, then called Tanganyika, gained its independence from Britain on December 9, 1961. It united with the Indian Ocean islands of Zanzibar and Pemba on April 26, 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania.
Mwingira said prisoners with incurable or highly contagious diseases, including Aids, cancer and tuberculosis, are to benefit from the presidential pardon.
Also on the list are prisoners more than 70 years old, as well as pregnant and breastfeeding women prisoners, she added.
”Those sentenced to death or serving life terms and those convicted of offences related to the use, trafficking or dealing in narcotic drugs, armed robbery, graft, rape, defilement and sodomy will not benefit from the presidential pardon,” she said.
Prison officials said Tanzania has more than 40 000 prisoners in its jails, some of which house inmates more than two or three times their capacity.
Last month, 17 remand prisoners died of suffocation in a police cell in the country’s south-western region of Mbeya. – Sapa-AFP