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Mlondolozi Female Prison within Khami Prison Complex. Inset: Inmates plait each other at Mlondolozi Prison.

The Government is conducting consultations on the proposed Prisons and Correctional Services Bill whose salient points are geared towards enhancing jails’ rehabilitative role and help further shed their traditional status as places where retributive justice is exacted on convicts.

According to the draft Bill, prisoners can be released on parole if the convict meets certain conditions. Another proposal seeks to have qualifying prisoners being employed and getting paid for that.

The draft Bill says a State Parole Board would be established and will be charged with setting conditions for one’s release from prison before they complete their sentences. In one of the more interesting suggestions, the draft also envisages day parole, a situation whereby a convict can be legally released during the day but mandated to return behind bars every night.

Some of the considerations for one to be granted parole include whether or not an inmate has displayed meritorious conduct, self-discipline, responsibility and was industrious while in prison.

Persons to be pardoned must not present undue risk to society when on parole and their release must also be on condition that such action would contribute to the rehabilitation and re-integration of the inmate into society as a law abiding citizen.

“The State Parole Board must be satisfied that there is a reasonable probability that such inmate will abstain from crime and likely to lead a useful, responsible and industrious life. Such inmate has displayed a meritorious conduct during such minimum term of imprisonment and no longer has a tendency to engage in crime and the release of the inmate will contribute to the rehabilitation and re-integration of the inmate into society as a law abiding citizen,” reads the report.

As we report elsewhere in this issue, Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services director legal services Senior Assistant Commissioner Spetosomusa Chinobva yesterday said the proposed law will see inmates performing work and be paid for that, a welcome departure from the prevailing practice where they are unpaid for their toil.

Section 129 of the Bill will empower the Commissioner General of Prisons to enter into contracts for prisoners to do the work.

“The Commissioner General may enter into a contract with any institution, person or body or persons for the employment and training of inmates who are under a sentence of imprisonment upon such terms and such conditions as may be determined, generally or specifically by the Commissioner General,” reads part of the Bill.

“For the purpose of encouraging inmates to participate in rehabilitation activities and work offered by the Service or providing financial assistance to inmates to facilitate their re-integration into society the Commissioner General may authorise the payment of gratuities to inmates. The gratuity referred shall be paid to inmates according to such conditions and such rates as the Commissioner General may from time to time determine.”

Indeed, the matter of parole and paid work for inmates are revolutionary proposals that would, yes, ensure that jail time remains a moderate punishment for crime, but at the same time deepens jails’ role as centres to rehabilitate convicts as opposed to condemning them. If the proposals are approved, inmates would be able to engage in more meaningful activities and not lose incomes.

We appreciate that not all prisoners are unrepentant characters. There are others who are first-time offenders who deeply regret the mistakes that got them punished. The former often commit crime soon after they are released and actually enjoy their time behind bars while the chances of the latter group committing crime again are next to zero and these deserve a second chance, which would include parole and paid work.

Long jail terms with no parole have been found to harden some criminals but the new plan would help enable the Government to release some convicts before they learn new tricks from their habitual and more dangerous colleagues. Early prisoner release will also be important in de-congesting prisons.

We sincerely hope that Parliament would see no problem with the foregoing as well as the suggestion to incorporate paid work for some as they serve their terms. At the moment, convicts lose much more than their freedom upon their incarceration. Those who were employed lose their jobs and incomes, a situation that causes much economic loss to the offenders themselves and their dependants. If they were married and had children, their families frequently break down and sink in poverty.

However, the proposal, if approved would minimise the financial loss to be incurred when a breadwinner is sent behind bars as they would be permitted to continue working for payment. We wait to see how the payments would be processed, whether the prisoners would get them monthly or when they complete their terms or whether their relatives can receive it on their behalf. If we had our way, we would suggest monthly payments, a portion going to their dependants as agreed.

The proposals would dovetail with a number of existing measures, among them the open prison system.

Having said this, we implore those originating the draft and the public who are participating in the outreach to also consider the question of permitting conjugal visits to married inmates. This is a useful suggestion that can potentially reduce sexually transmitted diseases and sodomy behind bars. Permitting conjugal visits can work to save marriages as well.

Overall, we see a few elements of the draft Prisons and Correctional Services Bill as forward-looking proposals to take our jails through the 21st century.