News / National
Zimbabwe to build open prisons for jailed mums
01 Oct 2018 at 06:51hrs | Views
THE Government intends to build more open prisons to accommodate female convicts who give birth in jail as it strives to improve the country's justice system, a Cabinet Minister has said.
The country has only one open prison, Connemara and it caters for men only.
Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi said the Government is committed towards ensuring children born to convicts in prison are well catered for even when they are behind bars. He was speaking in Parliament last Wednesday during the National Assembly's Question and Answer session after legislators asked him Government's position to ensure children born in jail do not suffer due to their mothers' imprisonment.
"As part of improvement of our justice system, we are trying to abide by what we call best practices. When a child is born, what is best for that child is to be with their mother because the mother is better placed to look after them.
"Among the measures we have in place, whilst in prison, the mother is able to get the necessary assistance to bring up their child. The reason is that, if the children are separated from the mothers, they will not be able to get the maternal love that is necessary for their growth," said Minister Ziyambi.
He said with availability of funds, Government intends to build more open prison facilities so that the mothers can raise their children in a home like environment. "I want to advise that those are the measures Government is looking into to ensure that such mothers are taken to open prisons. Once funds are available, we will make sure that we have more open prisons and that is what we have considered to implement," the Minister said.
The open prison is described as home away from home as prisoners sometimes take leave days to go to their families as part of the reintegration process. Minister Ziyambi said Government would continue to improve the lives of inmates and their children.
"Our hope is that mothers are able to be with their children and also that children are looked after very well. When the amnesty was previously extended, we ensured that all mothers were released. Therefore, the rights of women in prisons are upheld as part of our policy and we hope that will actually improve their way of living in prisons," he said.
The country has only one open prison, Connemara and it caters for men only.
Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi said the Government is committed towards ensuring children born to convicts in prison are well catered for even when they are behind bars. He was speaking in Parliament last Wednesday during the National Assembly's Question and Answer session after legislators asked him Government's position to ensure children born in jail do not suffer due to their mothers' imprisonment.
"As part of improvement of our justice system, we are trying to abide by what we call best practices. When a child is born, what is best for that child is to be with their mother because the mother is better placed to look after them.
He said with availability of funds, Government intends to build more open prison facilities so that the mothers can raise their children in a home like environment. "I want to advise that those are the measures Government is looking into to ensure that such mothers are taken to open prisons. Once funds are available, we will make sure that we have more open prisons and that is what we have considered to implement," the Minister said.
The open prison is described as home away from home as prisoners sometimes take leave days to go to their families as part of the reintegration process. Minister Ziyambi said Government would continue to improve the lives of inmates and their children.
"Our hope is that mothers are able to be with their children and also that children are looked after very well. When the amnesty was previously extended, we ensured that all mothers were released. Therefore, the rights of women in prisons are upheld as part of our policy and we hope that will actually improve their way of living in prisons," he said.
Source - chronicle
