Study shows justice system criminalises poverty

Malawi’s legal framework governing the criminal justice system criminalises poverty, thereby creating cycles of disadvantage that further entrench economic and social inequality, a new study has established. The study says in a country where a majority of the population lives below the poverty line, with high inflation and limited economic opportunities, the practice of imprisoning individuals for their inability to pay fines is particularly problematic. Titled ‘Monetary sanctions and poverty in Malawi’s criminal justice system’, the study was conducted by Industrial Relations Court deputy chairperson Chikondi Mandala and Gender Justice Unit executive director Sarai Chisala Tempelhoff.

The researchers argue that monetary sanctions in Malawi disproportionately impact those living in poverty through multiple mechanisms. Reads the study in part: “Courts frequently fail to assess defendants’ ability to pay before imposing fines; imprisonment becomes the default punishment for non-payment; property seizure targets the limited assets of poor households; and colonial-era vagrancy laws have historically criminalised the visible manifestations of poverty. “These impacts are not merely incidental but structural features of the current system.

Second, these practices indeed mirror historical systems of debtors’ prisons and peonage in troubling ways.” The study adds that when individuals are imprisoned not for their original offence, but for their inability to pay economic sanctions—as explicitly permitted under Sections 331 and 333 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Code— this recreates the essential feature of debtors’ prisons. The researchers propose implementation of “comprehensive ability-to-pay assessments”, development of alternative non-monetary sanctions for low-income offenders, capping total sanctions as a percentage of income and eliminating additional fees and interest that compound initial penalties. In Karonga, two men Enock Mzembe, 20, and Kenson Mzembe, 18, were remanded to prison for one month for failure to pay bail set at K100 000 before they walked to freedom on February 2 2026 after being acquitted.

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Yesterday, Centre for Human Rights Education, Advice and Assistance executive director Victor Chagunyuka Mhango said many of those incarcerated are first-time or low-risk offenders, often charged with minor or non-violent crimes. He said: “Conditions for such inmates are often indistinguishable from those serving custodial sentences: overcrowding, limited access to healthcare, disrupted family ties and loss of livelihoods. “Because their detention is technically ‘avoidable’ through payment, they may also fall through gaps in legal aid, case prioritisation, and review mechanisms, leading to unnecessarily prolonged remand periods.” Mhango added that short periods of incarceration can result in loss of employment, eviction, school dropouts for children, and long-term indebtedness with families being forced to sell productive assets to raise bail or fines, further pushing them into poverty. In a separate interview, National Advocacy Platform chairperson Benedicto Kondowe said cases from Maula and Karonga show how people can lose weeks or months of freedom not because they are guilty, but because they are poor.

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