|
|
Uganda: Are Conjugal Rights Obvious?
 |
 |
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
The Monitor (Kampala)
OPINION
27 March 2008
Posted to the web 27 March 2008
Jenkins Kiwanuka
Kampala
When I proposed the introduction of conjugal rights in Uganda Prisons more than a decade ago, the editor of one of the local dailies condemned my article to the dustbin. Each idea has its time, he told me privately, and the time for allowing conjugal rights to prisoners in Uganda has not arrived.
The editor was probably right then, but Commissioner General of Prisons, Dr Johnson Byabashaija, thinks otherwise now. By the way, may be because they read criminology in developed countries, all past and current bosses of the Uganda Prisons Service tend to take a theoretical rather than practical approach to prison reforms.
Speaking at a recent two-day National Prisons Reform Conference at Mukono, Dr Byabashaija said he did not see the reason (except for lack of facilities like private rooms) why prisoners in Uganda were denied their conjugal rights. It follows therefore that if funds became available, the Commissioner General would not hesitate to set up in all prisons around the country private rooms that are probably perfumed and fully equipped with bidets and condoms to enable the prisoners enjoy their conjugal rights.
Byabashaija also said that comprehensive improvements have so far raised the capacity of local prisons to handle 'high profile' suspects of the calibre of Ugandan warlord, Joseph Kony, a remark that created the impression that the Commissioner's proposed reforms targeted such inmates. The Ugandan taxpayer might end up paying for Kony's pleasures with his many wives at Luzira Prison!
At the risk of contradicting my earlier stand on the subject of conjugal rights for prisoners, I now tend to agree with the views expressed in the Daily Monitor's editorial of March 19 that before thinking of things like conjugal rights, Byabashaija should first ensure the prisoners' basic needs such as soap, adequate feeding, beddings and healthcare are in place.
On the other hand, we need to ask ourselves which prisoners we want to extend conjugal rights to. Many of today's prisoners are, for example, defilers of children and rapists. Some are even married men and women who deny their spouses conjugal rights and chose to abuse children including toddlers.
These are surely 'beasts' that do not deserve any rights at all. The other long term prisoners are convicted murderers on death row and robbers who are serving life sentences. It is of course good to use the prisons as reform centres, but a convicted murderer should forfeit all rights and freedoms unless he or she is pardoned in accordance with the provisions of the constitution. One murderer was pardoned by the President after he had been convicted by court.
He had chopped off his victim's (a male and town mayor) private parts, stuck them in the victim's mouth and dragged the body through the victim's home town. Could the Commissioner have extended conjugal rights to such a prisoner instead of subjecting him to Sharia law? It would surely make more sense if we used our resources to research into the causes of social maladies like defilement instead of making life in prison comfortable for those who commit such abominable crimes.
|
The writer is a journalist and retired foreign service officer
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Copyright © 2008 The Monitor. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Make allAfrica.com your home page | RSS Feed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top | Site Guide | Who We Are | Advertising | Search | Subscribe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Questions or Comments? Contact us. Read our Privacy Statement. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
