Ministry of Home Affairs Website

THE PROBATION AND COMMUNITY SERVICE DIVISION

1: About the Division

The Probation and Community Service Division is a division that amalgamates the Probation Service under Cap 247 and the National Secretariat of the Community Service, established under the Community Service Act, No. 6/2002. Before amalgamation, it was the mandate of the National Secretariat to supervise and coordinate the implementation of Community Service Act in mainland Tanzania.

Community Service, as a non-custodial sentencing option is not new to Tanzanians as since the colonial time the government had put in place such measures as Extramural Penal Labour, public work among others. Traditionally and before the introduction of prisons in the country, Tanzanians used to solve their correctional problems within the community. Community service therefore is like going back to the roots whereby the community is in charge or at least has some role in rehabilitating offenders.

The enactment of Community Service Act was prompted by a report prepared by the Law Reform Commission of Tanzania way back in 1986 and published in 1994. The commission investigated on the causes of prisons’ congestion in Tanzania that had swung so much on the negative side in the mid – 1980s. The total accommodation capacity of all prisons had risen to around 21,000 while the number of prisoners had shot up to a daily average of 35,000 as compared to the daily average of 11,690 at independence in 1961.

Among the major contributing factors to the problem of congestion in prisons are; The enactment of the Minimum Sentences Act in 1963 that isolated specific offences from the Penal Code and provided them with fixed Minimum Sentences, the enactment of the 1985 Criminal Procedure Act (CPA) that imposed stringent rules against the provision of bail, the enactment of Economic and Organized Crime Control Act in 1985 that completely denied bail and Minimum Sentence ranged between 15 – 30 years, and the enactment of Sexual Offences Special Provisions Act in 1998 that subjected offenders convicted of sexual related offences to a minimum sentence of 30 years imprisonment and life imprisonment for sexually abusing minors.

The above factors coupled with the rapid population growth (which is now about 40 million people compared to about 10 million at independence in 1961), inadequate utilization of non custodial disposition measures, overuse of imprisonment by the courts and the failure to have any meaningful expansion of the Prisons which we inherited from the Colonial Administration, have made the situation worse. It thus became apparently clear that remedial measures were necessary before matters could get out of hand.

In response to the committee’s recommendations, the community service Act No. 6/2002 was passed by the Parliament of the United Republic of Tanzania on the 10^th April 2002 to combat prison congestion in the country. In 2003, the Secretariat of Community Service Program was established to supervise and coordinate the implementation of the program, which started in six pilot Regions of Kilimanjaro, Mwanza, Dodoma, Mbeya, Mtwara and Dar es Salaam. The program was later extended to other Regions of Tanga, Arusha, Iringa, Shinyanga, Mara and Kagera.

The Secretariat of Community Service Program was headed by the National Coordinator appointed by the Minister responsible for Home Affairs. The National Coordinator was assisted by Community Service Officers appointed by the Minister from among the Probation Officers from the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. However, during the implementation process, the Secretariat faced challenges that hindered the smooth implementation of the Act. One notable challenge was the inability of the Secretariat to control, monitor and more importantly employ Probation Officers who are the key players in the implementation of the Community Service Act {Section 12(1) of the Act No. 6/2002}. Due to those challenges, it was decided by the government to merge the Probation Section from the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and the National Secretariat from the Ministry of Home Affairs to form the Probation and Community Service Division.

Under the division, the Probation of Offenders Act (Cap 247 R.E 2002) that was initially administered by the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare is now administered by the Probation and Community Service Division, which is under the Ministry of Home Affairs. Other sentences that are administered and managed by the Division are; the Extra Mural Penal Employment Scheme and Parole under the Parole Boards Act No. 25/1994, both of which were previously administered by the Prison Department.

2: The Vision and Mission of the Division

2.1: The Vision

The vision of the Probation and Community Service Division is to maintain law and order in the country through provision of community based non-custodial programs.

2.2: The Mission

To implement non-custodial sentences by Promoting greater Community involvement in the administration of Criminal Justice, rehabilitation of offenders and encouraging reconciliation in order to bring Peace and harmony in the Community

3: Objective

i) To involve the community in rehabilitating offenders to become law-abiding citizensii) To enhance non-custodial programs as alternative to imprisonment

4: Functions

i) To monitor and supervise Probationers

ii) To monitor and supervise Community Service Offenders

iii) To monitor and supervise Parolees as part of aftercare services

iv) To monitor and supervise Prisoners under the Extra Mural Penal Employment Scheme

v) To build capacity of LGAs in the management and implementation of probation and community service activities

5. Strategic Objectives

i) To provides programs that will assist offenders in meeting their individual needs in order to enhance their potential for reintegration as law – abiding citizens.ii) To ensure that offenders are productively occupied and have access to a variety of work and educational opportunities to meet their needs for growth and personal developmentiii) To ensure that the offenders, while in the community, are adequately supervised and that any increase in risk is addressed promptly by appropriate means of intervention and assistance.iv) To provide opportunity for offenders to contribute to the well being of the community

5: The Organizational Structure

According to the approved set up, the Probation and Community Service Division is divided into two sections namely; the Probation Service Section and After Care Service Section. Each of the two sections is divided into the following sub-sections

5.1: Probation Service Section

Under this section, there are two sub-sections as follows;

5.1.1: Probation Services

This sub - section deals with offenders convicted and placed on a Probation Order (Under the Probation of Offenders Act, Cap 247 R.E 2002). A probation order is made when a person is convicted of an offence and the court is of the opinion that, having regard to the youth, character, antecedents, home surroundings, health or mental condition of the offender, or to the nature of the offence, or to any extenuating circumstances in which the offence was committed, the court may, in lieu of sentencing him to any punishment, make a probation order. Persons charged with or convicted of any offence prescribed under the Minimum Sentences Act do not qualify for a Probation Order. The probation order is of not less than one year and of not more than three years from the date of the order (Section 4 (1) of the Act). The order requires probationers to submit during that period to the supervision of probation officers and attend appointments to discuss the factors that led to their offending behavior. The aim however is to make offenders take action to decrease the likelihood of offending in the future. Additional conditions as to residence and other matters with regard to circumstances of the case may be given, as the court considers necessary for securing the supervision of the offender. Violation of these conditions empowers the court to revoke the order and activate the prison sentence

.5.1.2: Community Service

This sub - section deals with offenders sentenced to Community Service under the Community Service Act No. 6/2002. Under the Community Service, the court may impose a Community Service Order whereby a convicted offender is offered the opportunity of compensating the society for the wrong he/she has done by performing unpaid public work within a community, for the benefit of that particular community.

Persons convicted for offences punishable by imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years with or without the option of fine or for a term exceeding three years but for which the court determines a term of imprisonment for three years or less with or without the option of fine are eligible for Community Service. The Penal Code and the 1^st Schedule to the Criminal Procedure Act 1985 (CPA) among other laws specify offences and their respective punishments. The Community Service Act in essence does not create a right but eligibility to community service. That means a person may be within the imprisonment grid but ineligible for community service if for example his character makes him unsuitable for community service. However, the decision not to channel a convict who is within the permissible grid to community service is a judicial decision and has to be exercised judiciously. Clear reasons must be given as to why community service has not been imposed, just as they should be given as to why it is imposed on an offender.

Before placing an offender to Community Service the Court has to consider the age of the offender, whether the accused is a first offender, the nature of the offence and whether the offender is a family man. The court has to consider also the attitude of offender to offence whether remorseful, the attitude of the community to the offender and the offence, the offender’s willingness to be placed on Community Service Order and whether the offender has fixed abode or employed. Other considerations for an offender to be placed under community service include the health of the offender, the distance to the nearest placement institution, whether the offender if placed on Community Service will be a threat to the Community, the character of the offender and more importantly the availability of a supervising officer.

The choice of work placement is based on; placements across a wide range of work settings and types of work, a range of individual and group work placements, work which is available throughout the week and work which is available throughout the geographical area covered by the Scheme. Only Public and non-profit organizations or institutions are used for community service placements.

5.2: Aftercare Service Section

This section deals with re-integrative services that prepare offenders for reentry into the community by establishing the necessary collaborative arrangements with the community to ensure the delivery of prescribed services and supervision. In this section, there are three sub-sections as follows

;5.2.1: Parole

This sub - section deal with supervision of offenders placed on Parole Order (Under Parole Boards Act No. 25/1994). A Parole order is an order made by the Parole Board (established under section 3 of the Act) which allows prisoners serving a sentence of imprisonment for a period of four years or more to serve his/her sentence within the community on certain conditions stipulated by the Law and the Parole Board. A prisoner is eligible for parole if he is not serving a life sentence, a sentence for armed robbery, dealing in dangerous drugs or his sentence has not otherwise been commuted and he has conducted himself with good behavior for all the time he has been serving the sentence before he is due for parole.

5.2.2: Extra - Mural Penal Employment Scheme

This sub-section deals with supervision of prisoners who have been released on Extra-Mural Penal Employment Scheme (Under Extra-Mural Penal Employment Regulations of 1968). Under EML, any person sentenced to a term of imprisonment not exceeding twelve months is eligible for Extra-Mural Penal Employment provided that he has declared the desire to the court or if he is no longer in the custody of the court, to the officer in charge of the prison in which he is serving the sentence, to undertake public work outside the prison.

5.2.3: Halfway Houses

Halfway Houses are rehabilitation centers that provide a supervised and restricted environment, after release from prison. It is intended to influence the convicts’ ability to form a productive life in society before getting total freedom. While at the Halfway House, the inmate is supposed to acclimatize himself with the new life outside prison and where possible he/she may as well find employment during the period spent at the Halfway House.