Agong’s Prison Visit Inspires Hope as She Pushes for Daycare Centre for Inmates’ Children

What the report says

Dokolo Post reports that Margaret Odongo Okune, the Agong of Lango and wife of the Won Nyaci of Lango, visited Oyam Women’s Prison in Uganda and commended the facility’s management for its care and rehabilitation of inmates. The visit, described as her first to the prison, took place on Thursday and included members of the Agong Foundation and local leaders.

According to the report, Agong Margaret said the visit challenged common assumptions that prison life destroys a person’s future. She observed inmates taking part in vocational training, including tailoring, hairdressing, crafts and other skills, and encouraged them to use the programmes to prepare for reintegration after completing their sentences. She also urged inmates to maintain peace and support one another while in custody.

A key appeal from the visit was for government and development partners to help establish a daycare section at Oyam Women’s Prison for children staying with their incarcerated mothers. The Officer-in-Charge, ASP Nabwire Catherine, said the prison currently has 43 female inmates and three children. Agong donated sugar, sanitary pads and milk for the children, while an inmate representative asked for more materials to support training in tailoring, crafts, hairdressing and liquid soap production.

SSP Emmanuel Opolot, representing the District Prisons Commander, thanked Agong for the outreach and called for continued lobbying to support prison skilling programmes. The issue matters because women’s prisons can face added welfare challenges when young children live alongside their mothers, making childcare and rehabilitation support important parts of humane detention and successful resettlement.