Children of prisoners have been called the “forgotten victims” of crime or “orphans of justice”. In Uganda, the number of children experiencing parental imprisonment is increasing in several parts of the country.
During our visit to Wells of Hope Ministries, a Christian charity organisation giving special attention to children of inmates across Uganda, the team said parental imprisonment is a risk factor for child antisocial behavior, offending, mental health problems, drug abuse, school failure, and unemployment.
Mrs Kyomuhendo Ssuubi, the director of Wells of Hope noted that Children have worse reactions to parental imprisonment if their mother is imprisoned or if parents are imprisoned for longer periods of time or in more punitive social contexts.
“We are trying to make sure that children of prisoners are considered as court sets the maximum penalty for parents convicted. After this mother or father has been imprisoned, court does not worry about who is going to look after the children.” She said. “They do not even ask how many children this person has or who is the next of keen. So we are trying to advocate for these changes.”
Wells of Hope Ministries was founded in 2002 in Murchison bay Prison Luzira, Kampala by Mrs Kyomuhendo’s husband, Francis Ssuubi where he was an inmate on remand for a period of 68 days. He was later acquitted after the charges were dropped.
While in prison, he wrote the Wells of Hope concept. He discovered the inmates’ biggest worry is the situation of their families that they left behind especially their children.
“Each of those inmates on average has 5 children. On certain occasions, by the time an inmate is imprisoned, he/she was looking after his relatives children. So, how many we save are just a drop in the ocean. That is why we are constantly advocating for support to reach out to more children.” Mrs Kyomuhendo Ssuubi said.
Although they have their data set out, the organisation appeals for research on the actual number of Children affected by parental imprisonment.
“Government will say these policies are already on paper, but actually, nothing is done practically. We had a Scenario where child was left in court – yet Government says they have the policies in place. What we want them to do is to enforce it. In Uganda, Children of prisoners were never considered vulnerable until the 2011 UN Convention. When parents are on trial, consider the children and family.”
“We are trying to reach out to policy makers, but they always ask for research that can be used as evidence. As wells of hope, we are the only organisation in Uganda that is doing this. We only have our evidence to back us up. But what they need are nationwide statistics and research. We need to have it done, published so that we can refer to it.” Mrs Kyomuhendo said.
Wells of Hope Ministries is only able to take on Children of inmates between 6-10 years.
“These are the formative ages. It is easy to have them reintegrated back into school in case they have dropped out . We face several challenges with the older ones who have dropped out of school for 3-4 years. One is 18 and you want to put him/her in primary 5 – they do not feel that they fit in.” Mrs Kyomuhendo said.
aaron@ugchristiannews.com
