Juvenile inmates in remand homes across the country are on the brink of starvation due to limited funding.
The revelation was made by the Commissioner of Youth and Children Affairs in the Ministry of Gender Labor and Social Development Fred Ngabirano.
Remand homes are prisons for children aged 17 and below. Unlike adult prisons, remand homes are under the docket of the Ministry of Gender Labor and Social Development.
Ngabirano was in Mbale to engage a local NGO for possible support and to receive a consignment of bedding for the inmates at Mbale remand home.
JENGA (the NGO) had delivered a consignment of bedding in addition to prior food support and transportation of the juveniles to court.
It is here that he revealed that the remand homes are grappling with rampant food stockouts due to budget cuts adding that they are surviving on one-off donations from well-wishers and development partners.
He raised a red flag over the looming starvation of inmates in remand homes something he says will amount to a violation of children’s rights if not addressed.
Ngabirano further revealed that the annual food budget to remand homes was slashed from Shs640 million to Shs120 million as per the current circular from the Ministry of Finance.
“As a ministry, we have communicated and we are saying don’t push us to the level where instead of preserving and adhering to rights of children we end up being the gross abusers of the rights of children by underfeeding them,” he said.
The budget cut has worsened the already existing problem of an overwhelming number of inmates. The 9 (nine) remand homes across the country are host to over 600 inmates. 218 of these are serving their sentence at the national rehabilitation centre in Kampiringisa while the rest are in the regional remand homes pending prosecution.
“We tend to be congested from COVID up to now, the crime is going up especially Gulu area and that causes us food shortage,” he said.
The Commissioner also highlighted Children detained in remand homes are those involved in capital offences including accomplices to high-level crimes such as murder and robbery, aggravated defilement and rape.