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Herald Reporter
More than 60 children are living in Zimbabwe’s prisons with their convicted mothers, an official has said.
Zimbabwe Prison and Correctional Services spokesperson Chief Superintendent Elizabeth Banda last week expressed concern over the welfare of children who accompany their mothers to jail.
“There are at least 64 children living with their mothers in all our female prisons and this is disheartening because prisons are not a good place for babies and they don’t deserve to be in there. “The diet at the prisons does not meet the nutritional requirements for children’s physical and mental growth, putting their lives at risk,” she said.
The longest “serving” minor is a four-year-old born in prison within days of the mother being remanded in custody awaiting trial for murder. Nearly 80 percent of the female population in Zimbabwe’s prisons is in the productive age group. Chief Supt Banda said at least 400 of 670 women serving time were between the ages of 21 and 35 years.
“We have about 670 women in all the prisons in the country starting from the age of 19,” she said.
“The majority of the women are in the productive age group between the ages of 21 to 35 years. “Immigration is on the top of offences committed by these women.”
Online Reporter