Mozambique: Chapo calls for greater integrity in prison system – AIM report

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Mozambique: Chapo calls for greater integrity in prison system – AIM report

6:01 CAT | 04 Feb 2025

Photo: RTP Africa

Mozambican President Daniel Chapo on Thursday called for greater integrity and efficiency in the country’s legal system, in order to restore citizens’ trust in public institutions and in the administration of justice.

He was speaking after swearing into office the new Minister of Justice, and of Constitutional and Religious Affairs, Mateus Saize.

Chapo said the commitment of the government in the field of justice is to promote the rule of law and to guarantee access to justice for all citizens.

“We need a judicial system that is efficient and transparent, and which fights vigorously against all forms of corruption and injustice”, declared the President.

Experience, he added, shows that feelings of social and economic exclusion arise from the perception of a lack of justice. “For us, justice is a cornerstone for the existence of the democratic rule of law, and of a nation at peace”, he said. “Mozambicans should live in an environment of full social and economic justice, promoted by the institutions of law”.

As for the religious part of the new minister’s portfolio, Chapo called for a profound and permanent dialogue between the various religious denominations, all of whom should be integrated into the broader context of social harmony.

More than 2,000 religious groups are currently registered, added Chapo, and they should be fundamental partners of the government in the promotion of peace, welfare and sustainable development.

Saize told reporters that one of his top priorities will be to end overcrowding in the country’s prisons, which he regarded as “the Achilles heel of the entire management of the prisons”. He wanted to see the courts use alternatives to prison sentences (such as community service).

Source: AIM