Government has laid before Parliament the Community Service Bill, a proposed law that would allow offenders convicted of minor crimes to serve non-custodial sentences through community service instead of imprisonment.

The bill has been referred to the Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Interior for consideration and subsequent passage.

If approved, the legislation will introduce a structured legal framework enabling courts to impose community-based penalties for minor offences, rather than custodial sentences.

The move is aimed at reducing prison overcrowding while ensuring that offenders contribute positively to society.

Presenting the bill on the floor of Parliament, the Minister for the Interior, Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak, said the reform is intended to address congestion in the country’s prisons and ease the financial burden on the state.

“People who commit minor offences should rather be given non-custodial sentences instead of caging them when we do not even have the capacity to feed and maintain them,” he told the House.

According to the Minister, the proposed framework will allow offenders guilty of petty crimes to undertake community service that benefits society, rather than serving time behind bars.

“It is basically to help us set up a framework to ensure that we decongest our prisons. We should not simply sentence people for stealing bananas or plantains and put them in prison.

"Instead, we can get them to do community service that enhances community unity and prevents the repetition of minor offences,” he explained.