By THANDIWE MOYO –
PANOS Institute Southern Africa (PSAf) says it is concerned at the inhumane conditions endured by inmates in most correctional facilities in Zambia, especially women and children.
PSAf Public Health Programme Manager Mamoletsane Khati said the organisation had embarked on a project to help improve living conditions for prisoners and circumstantial children.
The project dubbed “Prisoners’ Rights are Human Rights,” would be carried out in collaboration with media houses and other concerned organisations.
Ms Khati emphasised the need for Government to fully implement the articles under the Prisons Act for the improved welfare of the inmates, especially mothers and children.
“If the law is effectively implemented, there would be positive changes especially for children. The Prisons Act provides that circumstantial children need to be allowed an environment where they can have access to health care,” she said.
She said it was disheartening that most prisons in Zambia provided only two meals or one combined meal for an inmate.
He said these meals were often lacking in nutritional values and not good enough to support the proper development of children growing up with their mothers in correctional facilities.
“Our study also revealed that mothers have to share their foods with children and the quantity of food is not enough to cater for (nutritional needs of) both the mother and child,” she said.
Ms Khati said from the age of six months, children needed soft foods such as porridge but that the prisons had no facility of catering to such special needs.
Meanwhile, the Prison Care and Counselling Association (PRISCCA) appealed to the government to include those incarcerated on the Social Cash Transfer Scheme (SCT).
PRISCA executive director Godfrey Malembeka said women inmates and circumstantial children were also a group of people who were vulnerable and needed to be helped.
“Government should consider including the female inmates on the SCT scheme so they could also be empowered,” he said.