Working to energise Malawi’s criminal justice system

Malawi, “the warm heart of Africa”, ranks in the bottom 15 of the United Nation’s human development index. A huge proportion of its nearly 17m population live in poverty, infant mortality is extremely high, and life expectancy is low.

Such poverty almost inevitably means the country’s criminal justice system is under-resourced, leading, among other things, to serious prison overcrowding.

Many people find themselves locked-up for years while waiting for their cases to be heard — sometimes for what would be considered in Ireland as a minor offence — stealing a goat, or suspected of stealing a goat, to feed their family.