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LUSAKA. — Zambian President Edgar Lungu on Thursday pardoned 464 prisoners as part of the commemoration of this year’s Africa Freedom Day which was celebrated yesterday. Minister of Home Affairs Stephen Kampyongo said the Zambian leader pardoned the inmates from various correctional facilities across the country, in exercise of his prerogative mercy powers enshrined in the country’s constitution.
The Zambian minister said President Lungu pardoned 413 inmates as well as commuting sentences of 51 others who were on death row.
Minister Kampyongo commended the Zambian leader for pardoning the inmates, saying it will go a long way in decongesting the country’s correctional facilities, which currently hold over 21 000 inmates against a holding capacity of about 8 000.
The pardoned inmates, he said, have shown that they have reformed during their time in prison and were ready to be reintegrated into society.
The minister called on society to embrace the inmates and not to discriminate against them so that they could fully integrate and contribute to the country’s development. — Xinhua.
Peter Tanyanyiwa
Online Reporter