LUSAKA: A ruling party lawmaker has proposed flogging prisoners followed by release for minor offenders languishing in Zambia’s packed jails.
“We need to think outside the box and my suggestion is converting the years one is sentenced to lashes,” Kapembwa Simbao was quoted as saying in Wednesday’s state-run Zambia Daily Mail.
The governing Patriotic Front (PF) MP made the suggestion during a parliamentary committee session where it was revealed that there are 22,000 inmates in facilities designed to accommodate only 8,000.
He suggested a new law that would allow many offenders to take corporal punishment rather than serve a custodial sentence.
“Why isn’t it possible to come up with a bill which can lead to many of these offences to be translated into lashes to reduce congestion in correctional facilities?” Simbao asked.