Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) has expressed concern with the country’s human rights situation and has asked Parliament to take up its oversight role to monitor and ensure compliance to international human rights obligations.

In a report dated May 10 2023 and submitted to the Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament, MHRC singled out the response to Cyclone Freddy, implementation of the Access to Information (ATI) law, poor prison conditions and public appointments as some of the issues requiring attention.

Mhango: We plead with MPs

Among major concerns, the commission observed that there was procrastination by relevant government agencies to respond to Cyclone Freddy which exposed victims to human rights abuses, largely due to inefficiencies and unpreparedness on the part of the government in dealing with calamities of such magnitude.

Reads the report: “A typical example is the Malawi Defence Force which did not have choppers that were required to airlift relief items and perform rescue operations in areas that were not accessible due to the ravaged road infrastructure… The commission noted that the right to food was one of the critical human rights issues affecting survivors in the camps.

“The Department of Disaster Management Affairs [Dodma] was overwhelmed by the number of survivors requiring food support and failed to adequately provide for them. Moreover, most camps did not have adequate housing for the survivors thereby depriving them of their right to adequate housing.” 

While commending government for enacting the ATI law, MHRC has observed a lack of commitment to implement it.

It said: “For example, until now, a list of information officers which the ministry ought to publish at the end of every financial year has never happened. The majority of the population is not aware about the Act or their right to access information due to inadequate awareness.

“Information holders are not willing to comply with the Act either deliberately or due to inadequate knowledge and proactive disclosure of information-by-information holders is problematic.”

The commission has also reported Portuguese multi-disciplinary and construction conglomerate Mota-Engil to Parliament for allegedly declining a request for assessment on compliance with the ATI law. The firm argued that the law does not apply to private entities.

In a written response on the issue yesterday, MHRC officer responsible for ATI implementation Chance Kalolokesya said the matter is now in court after Mota-Engil obtained a court order stopping the assessment.

On a positive note, MHRC observed with satisfaction the level of compliance to the Gender Equality Act which requires a gender ratio of 60:40 in public appointments as the civil service now has 1710 men against 680 women in decision-making position, representing 45 percent.

But the commission said it was not happy with Cabinet composition which is in violation of the ratio as there are 10 women out of 27 members, representing 37 percent.

In the report, the long-standing concern on congestion and poor diet in prison has also been highlighted calling on government to reduce the number of inmates from 16 000 to the official holding capacity of 7 000.

Centre for Human Rights Education, Advice and Assistance executive director Victor Chagunyuka Mhango, in a written response yesterday, asked government to fast-track enactment of the Prison Bill which, among other issues, empowers Chief Commissioner for prisons to recommend courts and the president to reduce sentences and pardon some convicts.

He said: “If the Bill is passed into law, government will address many of the issues that prisons have been struggling with including congestion. We plead with our members of Parliament that once the Bill is tabled there should be no delays in passing the Bill. It’s about time we got rid of the archaic 1956 Prison Act”.  Minister of Information and Digitisation Moses Kunkuyu, the official government spokesperson, was yet to respond to our questionnaire on the issues raised by press time at 9pm.

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