By SARAH MWANZA –
PRISONS Care and Counselling Association (PRISCA) has charged that the law in Zambia is harsh on the poor and easy on the rich.
The association’s executive director Godfrey Malembeka cited stiffer bail applications as one of the legal unjust requirement that he said continues to disadvantage the poor.
He said cash bail has been grossly misapplied in Zambia since it only benefits the rich.
Dr Malembeka said the condition of cash bail should be flexible to allow the poor pay in kind.
He explained paying cash bail will always benefit the rich since they are the only ones who can afford it.
He said if justice was to be achieved along all social classes, poor people should be allowed to pay using valuable assets like cattle.
“The emphasis of cash bail has created a lot of problems since people with money, such as politicians and businessmen and women, readily pay because they have money, but the poor who can’t manage to pay end up being sent to correctional centres,” he said.
He has since called on the Zambian judiciary to adequately explain the concept of cash bail so that the poor could fully understand it and how they can meet this legal requirement.
Dr Malembeka also cited expensive legal representation by Zambian law firms as another legal aspect that was disadvantaging the poor.
He said the ineffectiveness of pro bono services was affecting the poor, hence the need for the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) to make sure that the service is effective.
“We further call on the Government to employ more lawyers because currently we have only legal Aid board lawyers at the 10 provincial centres,” he said.
Dr Malembeka added that the low use of constitutional Bill in Zambia has also contributed to keeping the poor in correctional services.
“We have close to 4,000 remandees out of the 20,000 incarcerated people today, hence the need to reduce the number to only 1,000 or less people awaiting trial,” he said.
He also cited the archaic piecemeal law review claiming that the penal code cap 87 needed to be fully reviewed to remove some archaic laws.
Dr Malembeka also bemoaned the low use of non-custodial sentences like suspended sentences, community services and fines.
“The poor should benefit from such sentences especially those who are pregnant and physically-challenged,” he said.