| |
Back to Index
ZIMBABWE:
Children endure the hardships of prison life
IRIN
News
January 05, 2006
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=50960
BULAWAYO - Annastasia,
12 months old, her hair plaited with red and white ribbons to match
her flowery dress, conjures the ideal image of a cute toddler, a
perfect contender for a baby pageant.
The only discordant note is her surroundings - four high white walls
make up Annastasia's world, and she will only discover what lies
beyond them in six months' time, when her grandmother fetches her
to live with her four siblings.
Prison Fellowship of Zimbabwe (PFZ), the local charter of an international
Christian alliance for rehabilitating and assisting former inmates,
estimates that over 200 children are in the country's jails with
their detained mothers.
At Mlondolozi Prison, a mental facility on the outskirts of the
southern city of Bulawayo where female prisoners are held pending
psychiatric review, 14 toddlers are serving sentences with their
mothers.
Among them is Annastasia's mother, Sibusisiwe Nkala, who is serving
a 10-year sentence for culpable homicide after killing her husband
who was allegedly abusing her.
Mlondolozi Prison is the only home Annastasia has known. A small
corner of the courtyard has been converted into a playground where
female prisoners take turns watching over the toddlers. The youngest
is just three weeks old, and the oldest is aged two.
"I had no clothes for my baby," said Thenjiwe Ncube, the mother
of the three-week-old. Sympathetic prison officers chipped in and
donated what they could, because "there are no provisions for baby
clothes here".
Zimbabwe's prison regulations stipulate that children be released
into the custody of relatives or the Department of Social Welfare
once they reach the age of two.
"The extended family concept is dead, as people struggle to obtain
the basic necessities to feed their families," said PFZ's Emmanuael
Nyakasikana, noting that the Department of Social Welfare's homes
have been stretched to the limit by the influx of children orphaned
by HIV/AIDS.
Fiona Mandiziva, mother of a 16-month-old boy, is serving four years
for housebreaking. She says that given the option, she would prefer
serving a community sentence and watching her child grow, as "I
can't impose my child on relatives, because I understand that things
are not that rosy out there."
In the past the prisons department used to provide mothers with
extra rations of soap and food, mainly peanut butter and milk, to
meet the needs of their children. But soap has become one of the
most expensive necessities in Zimbabwe, with peanut butter and milk
fast disappearing from most shops, including the prison department's
stores.
Zimbabwe's prison system is over-stretched, with more than 30,000
prisoners crammed into 11 jails designed for 16,000 inmates. While
women account for only three percent of the prison population, at
Mlondolozi there are 11 inmates in cells designed for four, according
to the Zimbabwe Association for Crime Prevention and Rehabilitation,
an NGO running rehabilitation programmes.
There are no separate sleeping arrangements for babies, and during
winter both mothers and their children are forced to cuddle together
for warmth under the few threadbare blankets provided by the system.
"It would be ideal if the children could sleep in cots separately
from us," lamented one inmate.
Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.
TOP
|
