Legal Experts Urge Penal Code Amendment in Malawi
While welcoming the review's adoption, the organizations argue more reform is needed.
LILONGWE, Malawi — Legal advocacy groups are calling for an amendment to Malawi's Penal Code to repeal laws that criminalize marginalized persons and violate human rights, writes Pemphero Musowa.
The Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) and Centre for Human Rights Education, Advice, and Assistance (CHREAA) appealed for the Malawian Parliament's adoption of a report by the legal affairs committee to review vagrancy offences in the Penal Code.
Section 184 of the code criminalizes individuals suspected of having no visible means of subsistence who cannot account for themselves, including laws on rogues and vagabonds.
While welcoming the review's adoption, the organizations argue more reform is needed.
Chikondi Chijozi, SALC Criminal Justice Lead, called it "a huge milestone in the campaign for the decriminalization of petty offences in Africa," urging parliament to review colonial-era laws that oppress marginalized groups.
Victor Mhango, Executive Director of CHREAA, expressed hope that Parliament and the Ministry of Justice would table the bill in the next sitting, noting that the court-set deadline expired on July 22, 2024.
The review follows a 2017 High Court judgment in Mayeso Gwanda v State, which declared section 184(1)(c) of the Penal Code unconstitutional, and a 2022 judgment in State v Banda and others calling for a comprehensive review of section 184.