Isiolo prison to introduce daycare facility for children of incarcerated mothers

Children born at Isiolo Women GK Prison or who accompany their mothers serving jail terms there will, before the end of the year, benefit from a modern daycare unit at the facility.

A small room with three double-deck beds and some playing toys, adjacent to the wards where the convicts and remandees sleep, has been accommodating some of the children.

Two women, in their 40s, have been taking care of the children during the day while their mothers go about their respective assigned activities. Cases of incarcerated women staying with their children in the wards have been rife due to inadequate facilities.

While in prison, children are at risk of suffering diarrhoea and malnutrition due to poor sanitation and inadequate healthcare, past reports show.

During the groundbreaking for the construction of the daycare, Isiolo Chief Magistrate Lucy Mutai, who funded its construction, said it would offer the children adequate playing and sleeping space as well as pre-primary education facilities for optimal development.

"The prison environment hinders children from having a normal childhood life. It is prudent to protect their rights to and need for an emotional and continuous relationship with their imprisoned parents," she said.

Isiolo Chief Magistrate Lucy Mutai lays the foundation stone during the groundbreaking for a daycare unit at Isiolo Women GK Prison, whose construction she is funding on April 2, 2024. (Photo: Waweru Wairimu)

The daycare, she said, will equip the children with the requisite basic education skills before they are reintegrated into society after they turn four years old.

The mothers will now have adequate time and space to breastfeed and bond with their children, which will enable them, like those outside, to enjoy a social life.

Imprisonment of parents and especially a mother, she said, creates obstacles for the child, hence the need to protect their interests even after they have been released from their mother's care to a society that is alien to them.

"The learning environment will help them transit smoothly after separation from their parents," the magistrate said, adding that the environment will also enable them to cope with the situation.

Isiolo Women GK Prison officer in charge Lucy Gacheri said the daycare will promote the social and emotional development of the children and offer them a learning environment.

"Segregating them from the prison population will, besides promoting their development, also ensure they do not pick bad behaviour from some of the prisoners," she said.

She added that the correctional facility was in need of more wards and a dining hall, among other facilities.

A room used by children of incarcerated women at Isiolo Women GK Prison. (Photo: Waweru Wairimu)

The ground-breaking event was attended by representatives from the Judiciary, the Law Society of Kenya, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the County Probation office.

Magistrate Mutai, who chaired a mobile court users committee meeting at the prison, said the daycare will also accommodate prison staff's children.

"Children are innocent beings who deserve our love and care. There is a need for all of us to protect their interests," she said.

Inadequate capacity remains a major impediment to the probation office's quest to attend to all cases of children of incarcerated parents referred to them by the courts.

They are, in most cases, forced to invite relatives of the offender to their offices for crucial information needed by the courts which mostly does not capture all the needed details, thereby compromising the rights and interests of the child.

Isiolo Women GK Prison pictured on April 2, 2024. (Photo: Waweru Wairimu)

The daycare will be completed by December this year, with the magistrate calling on well-wishers and development partners to join hands and help in its equipping after completion.

"I would much appreciate it if I could get support for the auxiliary services at the daycare so that we give hope to these children," she said, adding that the project was a way of giving back to the community.