DARESALAM (Halbeeg News) – Tanzanian President John Magufuli has signed a presidential decree to free 3530 prisoners ahead of the country’s Union.
Zanzibar merged with Tanganyika on April 26, 1964, to form the United Republic of Tanzania, a deal which was witnessed by Zanzibar’s founding President Abeid Amani Karume and Tanzania’s founding President Julius Nyerere.
President Magufuli issued the pardon to prisoners in accordance with authorities conferred to him under Article 45 (1) (d) of the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania
Through a statement issued on Friday by the Ministry of Home Affairs in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam, the government said 722 prisoners would be released immediately while 2,808 would complete their terms.
“It is the government’s expectation that they will rejoin and cooperate with members of the society in nation building,” Home Affairs Permanent Secretary Jacob Kingu, “We also expect them to avoid committing offenses that will take them back to prison.”
The statement said beneficiaries of pardon included people convicted before March 15, 2019, those suffering from chronic diseases including HIV/AIDs, tuberculosis and cancer and have been medically diagnosed.
Other beneficiaries of the pardon were prisoners above 70 years old, those with physical and mental disabilities, female prisoners convicted with pregnancy and those bearing young babies, said the statement.
The statement said people convicted for murder, suicide and infanticide, those sentenced for life imprisonment and later changed to normal sentences and convicts of drug trafficking and abuse were not recipients of the pardon.
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