Female open prison brings relief
UNPLEASANT situations where young children forget their mothers owing to prolonged absence caused by life issues like jail time is now a thing of the past, thanks to the advent of an open prison system for females.
Marondera Female Open Prison which opened its doors last week, becoming the first such facility in the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) affords mothers a chance to bond with their children by sharing meals and even supervising their homework.
The open prison system marks the dawn of a new era in prisoner management.
It’s a departure from closed prisons where security is tight and interaction with prisoners always monitored.
The Marondera Female Open Prison comes after the success of a similar facility for men which opened its doors at Connemara in 2000.
Buildings at the female open prison site are new, modern and well-painted giving prisoners, prison wardens and visitors a warm feeling and breath of fresh air. All these are complemented by well-manicured gardens which instil hope in inmates.
Among major features at the prison is a kitchen hut that was built by the First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa who also provided essential traditional utensils.
The First Lady is the patron of the Prison’s Foundation Trust. She was appointed the patron in recognition of her mission to uplift and empower the country’s womenfolk.
According to Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service (ZPCS) Dep
uty Commissioner-General Dr Granisia Musango, an open prison system is a correctional programme which has minimal security measures in terms of escorts and physical security.
“It gives room to individuals for self-supervision thus developing a sense of responsibility. The system has its unique privileges such as movements without escorts, a more relaxed environment, physical touch with the outside world through home leave and unsupervised visits in preparation for reintegration.
“This is ideal for women since women being the cornerstone of the family, their presence matters in the management of family social issues. The longer she stays in a closed prison system where there are no such privileges to visit home will result in broken
families,” she said.
Currently there are 30 women housed there, but upon completion of construction it is expected to house 500. For one to qualify, the ZPCS boss said, the inmates would have committed unclassified offences.
“One qualifies for Open Prison upon serving at least half of their sentence at a closed prison. Mothers with accompanying children have to satisfy some aspects of the criteria though the issue of babies is considered,” she said.
The prisoners are allowed 14-day home visits per quarter and they are not supervised while at home, but they are obliged to communicate to the authorities if need arises.
“They (inmates) engage in various rehabilitation activities. At Marondera they have life skills activities such as garment making, tailoring, hair dressing, farming (horticulture), and livestock rearing.
“The Government provides 100 percent of their basic needs and upkeep, the same as in a closed prison. However, they are allowed self-catering, they live in single rooms, they have access to entertainment (television, internet access), they can enrol with outside institutions of learning and they decide time to start and end their day unlike in a closed prison,” the ZPCS boss said.
Dr Musango added; “First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa was instrumental in pushing for the Open Prison System for the females since there was one for males. She became the Patron and established the Female Open Prison Foundation Trust tasked for resource
mobilisation for the construction of the institution.
“She in her own right immensely donated materials for the cause and this included construction material, food and expertise. As patron, she officiated at the ground breaking ceremony and the official opening of the institution.”
The International Confederation of Women Lawyers (ICOWL) said it was pleased with the open prison for females.
“This is a new development which is a first in the SADC region, to have an open prison for women. We would like to commend those that worked towards it, in particular our First Lady, Amai Auxillia Mnangagwa and her team.”
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