AN OVERVIEW OF JUVENILE DETENTION FACILITIES AND PROTECTION

OF JUVENILE OFFENDERS.

A RESEARCH BY BAMULOZI PRISCILLA

A RESEARCH PROJECT SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF POST

GRADUATE LEGAL STUDIES AND LEGAL AID OF THE LAW DEVELOPMENT
CENTRE FOR THE PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR
THE AWARD OF THE DIPLOMA IN LEGAL PRACTICE OF THE LAW
DEVELOPMENT CENTER.

26TH FEBRUARY,2021.
 DECLARATION

I, Bamulozi Priscilla, declare that this is my own original piece of work and it has never been
submitted for any award to this or any other University/ Institution.

Signed……………………………………. Date…………………………………..
Bamulozi Priscilla

SUPERVISOR: NABIRYO LYDIA.

Signed ……………………………………Date…………………………………..

DEDICATION
I dedicate this paper to my mother Ms. Nalweyiso Agnes Katamba.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor madam Nabiryo Lydia for her untiring effort
and guidance without which this work would never have been produced. I am also thankful
to the almighty God who gave me life and wisdom to reach this far. He is greater than
anything! “Greater is that is me, than that is the world” 1 John 4:4.

I owe thanks to the staff of Naguru Remand Home, Kampiringisa National Rehabilitation
Center and all the juvenile detainees for their patience and cooperation they exhibited
throughout this study.
I also thank myself for the commitment and handwork I exhibited throughout the research
study for it helped me to accomplish the research study in time.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION
This chapter entails the back ground of the study, the statement of the
problem, the purpose of the study, objectives of the study, research questions,
and scope of the study as well as the theoretical frame work of the study.

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

In Uganda, children in conflict with the law are a responsibility of many stake
holders including the police, judiciary and the ministry of Gender, Labor and
social development. Uganda has ratified international instruments on the
rights of children which are also enshrined in section four of the Act. These
include a right to education, leisure, basic needs like food, shelter, clothing,
and legal representation when needed among others.

A child in Uganda is considered to be a person below the age of 18 as per

section 2 of the Act1 and Article 257 of the Constitution 2. Criminal
responsibility in Uganda starts at the age of 12 years old which brings about a
situation of minors or children who conflict with the law held for their acts.
Such children are detained in remand homes, charged with most common
offences being theft, child to child sex, among others.

Uganda has got different remand homes which include Fortportal, Mbale,
Naguru and the famous Kampiringisa National Rehabilitation Centre.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM.

Remand homes are the detention facilities for juvenile offenders and such, is
the sole purpose for their establishment. The population of child offenders in
such homes is high due to the high number of children brought to such homes
after committing of crime , those that are brought by their parents voluntarily
after proving to be unruly and street children that are settled by government in
such homes due to lack of facilities to accommodate such children. The
1
Act of The Children Uganda Cap 59 as amended 2016.

2
Constitution of Uganda 1995 as amended.
challenge then arises in lack of incentives for use in such homes, to cater for
the high population as well as the understaffing in remand homes which
makes the conditions of livelihood there unfavorable for children in custody,
ranging from poor beddings, medical care, education, poor feeding, to mention
but a few. Also, the number of girls compared to boys in remand homes is so
low which leaves such girls prone to sexual harassment and exploitation by the
boys, an issue that stakeholders responsible for such homes have a challenge
addressing and hence leading to sexual violation of such girls in silence as they
have no one to report such occurrences to.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This research aims at making an evaluation of juvenile detention facilities in

Uganda, analyzing the conditions in which children detained in such facilities
live in taking into account the different rights that children are entitled to,
making an evaluation of their observation on juvenile detention facilities and
giving recommendations on how such conditions can be improved hence
observing of children rights and promoting protection of juvenile offenders in
such juvenile facilities. The research will further give recommendations on how
such children can be smoothly reintegrated into society and hence promoting
their protection.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY.

General objective.

1. To examine the conditions of juvenile detention facilities and provide

recommendations to improve the same.

Specific objectives.

1. To make an evaluation of the prevailing conditions of living in juvenile

detention facilities in Uganda.
2. To access how rights of juvenile offenders are violated in juvenile detention
facilities in Uganda.

3. To analyze the process of reintegration of juvenile offenders into society to

promote their protection.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS.

1. What are the conditions prevailing in Juvenile detention facilities in Uganda.

2. How are rights of juvenile offenders in juvenile detention facilities are

observed.

3. What reforms should be put in place to improve conditions of juvenile

detention facilities and promote protection of juvenile offenders.

CONCEPTUAL FRAME WORK.

This research aims at showing the different living conditions prevailing in

juvenile detention facilities in Uganda and how improvement of the same will
enhance protection of detainees in such detention facilities.

Uganda has the children Act as amended 2016 3 , a law enacted to protect
children and as well address issues concerned with children. According to the
Act4, children are entitled to different rights ranging from education, health
care, food, legal representation where necessary clothes, among others. These
rights are a mandatory entitlement of children, including those in juvenile
detention facilities and as such should as well be respected, provided and
observed in such centers regardless of these juvenile offenders being in conflict
with the law because regardless of the same, they still are children who are
entitled equally to such rights as much as others.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY.

Geographical scope.

3
Cap 59.
4
The Children Act of Uganda as amended 2016.
The study was carried out in areas where juvenile detention facilities are located
in Uganda which includes Kampala, Masaka, Fort portal, Mbale, and Gulu.

Time scope

This research covers information obtained in a period of 6 months.

METHODOLOGY.

Research design

Qualitative research method was used to determine the ratio of boys to girls in
juvenile detention facilities and to examine the conditions of such facilities.

Research tools

Interview and Sampling was used to collect data during the research.

LITERATURE REVIEW.

According to Marianne Moore, in her report, children in Mbale, and in

Kampiringisa National Rehabilitation Centre, appeared to be living in poor
conditions with very few members of staff in attendance. There is a wide variety
of conditions in terms of the bedding and sleeping quarters of the remand
homes .The juvenile offenders in Mbale Remand Home have no beds in either
the boy’s dormitories or the small room used by the girls. Also, the children do
not have adequate uniforms.5

In Uganda, corporal punishment is prohibited in the juvenile detention system,

although it is not prohibited in the home or school. This may account for the
extremely mixed approach to discipline. In the majority of remand homes there
is no recourse to physical discipline and juvenile offenders who misbehave are
verbally reprimanded. However in most Remand Homes like Kampiringisa
National Rehabilitation Centre, corporal punishment in the form of caning was
5
Juvenile Detention in Uganda, A review of Ugandan Remand homes and the National
Rehabilitation center, (2010).
routinely used for disciplinary reasons. 6 However, this is an illegal approach of
disciplining such detainees as the detention is in itself a form of discipline. The
report however didn't expound on the different means of disciplining such
juvenile detainees that can be adopted in detention centers aside from the
corporal punishments, and as such this research shall cover and recommend
other forms of discipline methods that can be employed in such detention
centers and hence promoting protection of juvenile offenders.

The majority of remand homes and the national center provide the children
with three meals a day. However, regarding Mbale Remand Home, the children
have not been given breakfast regularly. Also Gulu Remand Home has very low
food supplies. The food is also prepared by the children themselves which
decreases hygiene levels and also creates a dangerous environment as the
children are prone to burns. Kampiringisa National Rehabilitation Centre has
very low hygiene levels. This is according to the national Rehabilitation Center
Report of 2010 by Marianne Moore of 2010. However, the report doesn't
address the quality of meals the children in such centers eat as well as their
quantity as food is essential for their growth as children. 7
The report doesn't at the same time address the issue of how the quantity of
food served to juvenile offenders in such centers can be increased as well as its
quality, which if addressed improves the conditions of living in such juvenile
detention facilities.

According to the UNICEF report8, neither the remand homes nor the national
rehabilitation center have adequate on-site medical facilities or sick bays. All of

6
Juvenile Detention in Uganda, A review of Ugandan Remand homes and the National
Rehabilitation center, (2010).

7
Juvenile Detention in Uganda, A review of Ugandan Remand homes and the National
Rehabilitation center, (2010).

8
UNICEF: Save the children, Juvenile Justice in Uganda: A situation analysis, (2000).
them use local medical facilities when necessary, either calling in a medical
professional such as a nurse, or taking the young people to outside hospitals.
Therefore sometimes the juvenile offenders are ill without any medical
attention. Some of the children in these facilities came in as drug abusers and
nothing has been done to help them overcome their addictions and help them
reform into better .Most of them end up going forth to the acts that led them
into detention at juvenile detention facilities after serving their time and others
are rejected by their communities and families after serving their time and as
such feel like society is not a place where they belong. 9
One of the challenges in juvenile detention facilities is the high population of
detainees due to the fact that most detainees even after serving of their time
still remain in these centers due to lack of nowhere to go. 10 The prevailing
publications don't address the issue of a smooth integration of such detainees
in society; a measure that can help reduce on the population in detention
facilities .One of the aims of this research therefore is to establish measures for
the same, to help former detainees accept the changes in society after
detention and how to deal with them.

In January 1997 the Government of Uganda introduced universal primary

education and in 2005 universal secondary education was introduced.
However, the majority of remand home children are provided with absolutely
no education at school going age. Naguru Remand Home is able to provide
some education through an NGO which teaches basic literacy and encourages
those children who are literate to varying degrees, to maintain their reading
and writing skills. The national rehabilitation center allows 85 children whose
parents are willing to pay their fees to go to local schools. However the rest of
the children at the center, including the street children, do not have access to
formal education. All of the remand homes and the center provide some form of

9
https://www.fhri.or.ug

10
UNICEF: Save the children, Juvenile Justice in Uganda: A situation analysis, (2000).
religious education.11 This is a challenge that needs to be addressed by the
different stake holders with the government taking the lead. This research
therefore will provide recommendations to the government to enhance the right
to education that such children are entitled to in such detention facilities.

In Mbale Remand Home the children have no beds in either the boys
dormitories or the small room used for the girls to sleep in. There is also a lack
of mattresses, and many of those present were broken. Two girls share one
mattress and the boys have a small number of mattresses between them. There
did not appear to be clean sheets or enough sheets or blankets. There is no
artificial lighting and the natural lighting was poor. 12

This shows the poor conditions of livelihood in which children in such juvenile
detention facilities live in. There is therefore need to address these conditions
to their improvement in order to protect children detained in such facilities
from violation of their rights. Protection of these children should not only be
done during their time in such detention facilities, but as well go ahead even
when they are done serving their time in such detention facilities to promote a
smooth integration of such children in their communities as it becomes hard
for them to cope with the changes and sometimes revert back to committing
crime for a livelihood that resultantly takes them back to such detention
facilities or adult prisons.

CHAPTERISATION

Chapter one

11
UNICEF: Save the children, Juvenile Justice in Uganda: A situation analysis, (2000).
12
https://www.fhri.or.ug
This chapter entails the general introduction of the research, it's background,
the statement of the problem, research questions, general and specific
objectives of thy study, significance of the study, the methodology to be used
during the research, the scope of the study including the time and geographical
scope as well as the literature review which is content of other authors about
the topic of research.

Chapter two

This covers findings on the prevailing living conditions on detention facilities

in Uganda ranging from beddings, health care, education, food, among others
and also to make a further evaluation on the available incentives for use in
such facilities are sufficient taking into account the population in the different
detention facilities.

Chapter three

This entails the different rights that children are entitled to , basing on
different laws enacted in Uganda to address issues concerned with children as
well as other international instrument ratified in Uganda and also make an
evaluation on how such rights have been observed and respected in the
different juvenile detention facilities in Uganda.

Chapter four

This entails an analysis of how juvenile offenders are integrated in society from
such juvenile detention facilities.

Chapter five
This entails the summary of findings, recommendations on how living
conditions in juvenile detention facilities can be improved as well as measures
to be put in place to ensure rights of children in detention facilities are
respected and observed to enhance protection of such children, and the
conclusion of the study as well as establishing measures to ensure smooth
integration of juvenile offenders in society to ensure their protection.

CHAPTER TWO: PREVAILING CONDITIONS OF JUVENILE DETENTION

FACILITIES IN UGANDA.
Severe overcrowding is a serious problem at juvenile detention facilities. A case
in point of the Naguru remand home which according to records of the centre,
it was designed to accommodate 150 juveniles. However, currently the number
has increased to over 300 juveniles, with some as young as one year old with
just a countable number of supervisors available for them. Speaking to the
warden of Naguru remand home, he noted that this was due to lack of
provisions for children in need of care and protection and as such
Kampriringisa National Rehabilitation Centre is used to accommodate such
children alongside the juvenile detainees. She further notes that the centre is
not provided with enough incentives to cater for all the children hence creating
competition for incentives like beddings, food among others. It was contended
that the resources used by the centre are those provided for by the government
and as such they have to be managed to cater for the big population of the
detainees. These are only supplemented by resources from nongovernmental
organizations and religious groups which provide items like soap, clothes, food,
and sometimes provide vocational education to some detainees. 13

Also, the dormitories of detainees in these juvenile detention centers are small
and as such the detainees don't not have enough room in these dormitories. In
addition to the small dormitory space, some of the detainees urinate on bed
which makes the dormitories unhygienic. The wash rooms used by the
detainees are also in a dire state in terms of hygiene which makes the
detainees prone to sanitary diseases. However, Fort Portal remand home's
environment was generally clean ranging from the dormitories, washrooms and
cooking area. This is attributable to the small population of the home. 14

Most remand homes like Kampiringisa National Rehabilitation Centre are

understaffed. The centre operates on a staff of about 18 employees with about
22 positions vacant. In other juvenile detention centers like Fort Portal and
Mbale, some staff members like chefs and wardens are rarely around, which
challenges the detainees to take over different roles like cooking to be able to
make food for themselves. This is usually done by the older detainees who help
out and take over these roles.15

In matters of discipline, in Fort Portal, Gulu and Naguru remand homes,

there's a mixed approach of instilling discipline among the detainees. There’s
usually no recourse to physical discipline and as such children who misbehave
are usually verbally reprimanded. However, in Kampiringisa National
Rehabilitation Centre, corporal punishment in form of caning is a routine.
There’s even an isolation cell used for punishment of the juvenile detainees, an
approach which is really harsh considering the age of some of the detainees.
Most detainees in Kampiringisa describe awful experiences in the centre. They
recount that they are beaten as a means of disciplining them, and sometimes,
13
Nabwire Juliet, ‘Children in conflict with the law; An analysis of the Ugandan juvenile justice
system’ 2012.
14
Nabwire Juliet, ‘Children in conflict with the law; An analysis of the Ugandan juvenile justice
system’ 2012.
15
Nabwire Juliet, ‘Children in conflict with the law; An analysis of the Ugandan juvenile justice
system’ 2012.
are punished by their fellow detainees who are considered to be their heads.
They further recounted that after chaining them, they are put in a certain
small room called “akadukulu" for almost the whole day as further
punishment.16

Most juvenile detention centers lack professional psychological workers which

means that children with drug issues and different disturbances are not
usually attended to, to help them overcome these vices and encourage them to
reform. As such they are left in isolation rather than being given support and
are left to entertain themselves with whatever they can find. However, some
religious groups and other organizations offer counseling services to juvenile
detainees if invited and this encourages detainees in these centers to open up
and confess their past acts. Counseling is done individually or in groups in
juvenile detention centers.

Most juvenile centers like National Rehabilitation Centre Kampiringisa

encourage detainees to participate in recreational activities such as playing
football, music dance and drama, debating and board games like '
‘omweso'.This encourages juveniles to freely associate with caretakers. These
games also help juvenile detainees to forget their past and live on with their
life.17

All remand homes carry out inspection of the dormitories of the juvenile
detainees in the morning which are fundamental in bringing discipline among
juvenile detainees. These inspections also encourage detainees to wake up in
mornings during inspection to do their daily chores like cleaning compounds
and their dormitories.

In regards to medical services in juvenile detention centers, these centers do

not have adequate onsite medical facilities or sick bays. All of them use local

16
Mugerwa Paul ‘Challenges of Rehabilitating juvenile delinquents in Uganda’ November 2010.

17
Mugerwa Paul ‘Challenges of Rehabilitating juvenile delinquents in Uganda’ November 2010.
medical personnel in the detention centers or rather take detainees to hospitals
outside the centers. However, in this kind of arrangement, most juvenile
detainees end up escaping from custody of juvenile detention centers. 18

In most juvenile detentinclude anion facilities for example Naguru remand

home and National Rehabilitation Centre Kampiringisa, vocational courses are
offered to detainees with the help of Non government Organizations and
various religious groups. Such courses include carpentry, plumbing and
electronics. This enables the detainees to have a point of beginning in their life
after getting out of juvenile detention facilities. 19

CHAPTER THREE: AN EVALUATION OF HOW THE DIFFERENT RIGHTS OF

CHILDREN ARE OBSERVED DETENTION FACILITIES.

Although detainees in juvenile detention centers are in conflict with the law,
they still remain children under the laws of Uganda and society at large. As
such, all rights that are applicable to other normal children apply to them too
regardless of their status.

18
Mugerwa Paul ‘Challenges of Rehabilitating juvenile delinquents in Uganda’ November 2010.

19
Mugerwa Paul ‘Challenges of Rehabilitating juvenile delinquents in Uganda’ November 2010.
The Children Act of Uganda provides forge different rights of children as well as
other international instruments on the rights of children that Uganda has
ratified for example, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children.

Section 3 of the Children Act20 emphasizes that in all matters concerned with
children, their welfare shall be of paramount consideration. In the same
respect, the same ought to be put into consideration among juvenile detainees
in juvenile detention facilities. Different aspects like age, educational and
emotional needs, sex, likely effects of change and ascertainable wishes and
feelings of children should be of paramount importance.

Section 4 of the Children Act 21 also provides for a right for children to live with
their parents or guardians. However, juvenile detainees don't entirely enjoy this
right because of their status of conflict with the law, others because of their
parents' efforts to discipline them and the rest because of government initiative
to remove them off streets of Kampala and resettle them in juvenile detention
facilities, which puts them in such position. What is available to juvenile
detainees, close to the right mentioned above is to at least be visited by their
known parents or guardians during their stay at juvenile detention centers, as
this part of their parental responsibility. However, most of them during their
stay at juvenile detention facilities are rarely visited by their parents or even
never. The director of Naguru remand home on being interviewed about how
often known parents and guardians of juvenile detainees at the remand home
get to see their parents, she noted that most detainees especially those brought
to the home because of committing crime, never get to be visited by their
parents till the end of their stay. This violates the right to these juvenile
detainees to at least be visited by their known parents or guardians since it is
impracticable for them to live with them. The fact that such children are
detained in juvenile detention facilities because of their being in conflict with

20
Children Act of Uganda Cap 59 as amended 2016.

21
Children Act of Uganda Cap 59 as amended 2016.
the law doesn't relieve parents from their parental responsibility to take care of
the children.

Juvenile detainees have a right tone express their views or beliefs in any matter
that affects them. This is provides for under section 4 of the Children Act 22 .In
the same bid , they have a right as children in juvenile detention facilities to
access information to which a parent, guardian or person in authority, that
deems critical to a child's wellbeing. However most juvenile detainees don't get
information about the status of their cases on courts of law. Most of them don't
know when they would be produced in court for prosecution for the crime they
are accused of. They don't get to know of this information even they request for
this information from their wardens in these juvenile detention facilities.

In the same bid, most juvenile detainees are not allowed to express their views
in regards to the crime they have been accuses of. Speaking to one of the
juvenile detainees at Naguru Remand Home whose names cannot be disclosed,
he noted that he was arrested in 2019 when he was 16 years of age on
accusations that he defiled a girl of 10 years old. He stated that when he was
arrested, he informed the police that he was innocent of the accusations but he
wasn't believed. He further stated that he told them he was only 16 years old
but the police insisted he was 18 years old and should be taken to adult
prison. He states that he was brought to the remand home after effort of the
probation and social welfare officer who insisted that he was under 18 years 23.

Juvenile detainees as children are also entitled to privacy and safety as

according to section 4 of the Children Act 24. However, this right is violated in
most of the juvenile detention facilities by the older detainees that attack and
beat the younger ones and as well the corporal punishment that are given by
their wardens to these juvenile detainees. This is an act that authorities in the
22
Nabwire Juliet, ‘Children in conflict with the law; An analysis of the Ugandan juvenile justice
system ‘2012.

23
Nabwire Juliet, ‘Children in conflict with the law; An analysis of the Ugandan juvenile justice
system ‘2012.
24
Children Act of Uganda Cap 59 as amended 2016.
juvenile detention facilities are in knowledge of but don't take trouble to do
anything to stop this act in juvenile detention facilities.

Also, the dormitories in most of the juvenile detention facilities are overcrowded
with less room for the big population accommodated in the juvenile detention
facilities. This violated the detainees’ right to privacy; they don't have room to
live in such dormitories without less physical interference of their fellow
juvenile detainees or authorities.25

Juvenile detainees as children are also entitled as of right, to have access to

basic social services for example education, medical care among others. This is
provided for under section 4 of the Children Act 26. However, there is barely
even an onsite medical facility at most of the juvenile detention facilities in
Uganda. In case the need arises, ill detainees are taken to local clinics outside
juvenile detention facilities. This option is only available for the ill detainees.
Those with minor sicknesses like stomach ache, headaches, live to bear with
the pain till it elapses and as such barely get access to proper treatment.

Juvenile detainees as children have a right to leisure not harmful to them 27.
This right has been the most observed in juvenile detention facilities as juvenile
detainees are given opportunity to participate in sports, music dance and
drama among other leisure activities organized by the authorities of juvenile
detention facilities as well as other non government organizations and other
religious groups.

Article 628, is to the effect that children have a right to live a full life and as
such governments should ensure that children survive and develop healthily.
This includes children in juvenile detention facilities. Most detainees in juvenile
detention facilities struggle with challenges related to drug abuse and addiction
as well as emotional damage, and as such they need professional services of

25
Children Act of Uganda Cap 59 as amended 2016.
26
Children Act of Uganda Cap 59 as amended 2016.
27
Children Act of Uganda Cap 59 as amended 2016.
28
United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children ratified by Uganda in 1987.
counselors to help them overcome their addictions and other challenges to be
able to live healthy lives. However, such services are never provided for by the
government in these juvenile detention facilities. Credit is given to some
nongovernmental organizations and other religious groups who have tries to
offer such services to detainees either individually or in groups. However, this
is not consistent as it only comes once in a while.

Article 2429 states that children have a right to clean water, nutritious food and
clean environment to stay healthy. However, this still remains a challenge in
juvenile detention facilities as detainees are fed on posho and beans with
limited opportunities to change their types of meals.

Also, the food provided to the detainees is not enough due to the high
population in most juvenile detention facilities. This creates competition for
food among the detainees and as such, young detainees end up losing their
food to the old ones who bully them, hence end up missing meals and
developing illnesses like ulcers.30

29
United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children ratified by Uganda in 1987.
30
Mugerwa Paul ‘Challenges of Rehabilitating juvenile delinquents in Uganda’ November 2010.
CHAPTER FOUR: ANALYSIS OF HOW FORMER JUVENILE OFFENDERS
ARE INTERGRATED IN SOCIETY.

After their stay in juvenile detention facilities, former juvenile offenders need to
settle back into their communities and societies. However, some of them don't
smoothly settle in as they are usually preheated by their communities.

Counselling is a major technique applied in the initial stages of rehabilitation of juvenile

offenders. This is done to determine the level of psychosis of the former juvenile offender and
prepair them to go back and live with society again.

The warden at Gulu remand home reported that it can be very difficult to
persuade a community not to be hostile to a former juvenile offense from the
remand home. He further noted that if there is fear that the community may
attack a former juvenile detainee, they usually talk to a relative of the former
detainee who is willing to take him or her on to settle them in another area to
ensure that the child is in the right hands. 31

In fort portal remand home, the warden noted that they undertake community
resettlement with support from the Justice Law and Order sector. They ensure
to meet the probation and social welfare officer first, the local council authority
of the local area where the former juvenile detainee comes from and then later
hand over him or her to the parents.32

Also, depending on the character of the former juvenile offender, supervision of the offender is
done within the community. A former juvenile offender presenting limited danger to society
received light supervision and a former juvenile offender presenting a medium or high risk of
recidivism will need rigorous supervision with a more sustained intervention of a longer
duration with the community, to ensure that he doesn't commit more crime and cause him or
her to be detained for commitment of crime. Usually, supervision is done by close family

31
UNICEF: Save the children, Juvenile Justice in Uganda: A situation analysis, (2000).
32
UNICEF: Save the children, Juvenile Justice in Uganda: A situation analysis, (2000).
members of the juvenile offender who undertake to do the same, with the help of the
probation and welfare officer of the area where the former juvenile offender resides. 33 This is
majorly because juvenile offenders are not all engaged with the same intensity in their
deliquencies, given their development and needs, receptiveness to intervention and
adjustment to societal integration.

33
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND
CONCLUSION.
5.1 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS.
From the research conducted, it is notes that the conditions in juvenile detention facilities in
Uganda are attributed to the limited resources provided by the government to the facilities. The
authorities in juvenile detention facilities are forces to work with what is available to
accommodate the big population in the juvenile detention facilities.
Also, most rights of juvenile detainees as children have not been observed in juvenile detention
facilities save for the right to leisure not harmful to their wellbeing.A case in point is the right to
education as some juvenile detention facilities like the National Rehabilitation centre
Kampiringisa has no school nor teachers on site at the facility.However, vocational studies are
offered to juvenile detainees ranging from weaving, capentery among others.
Recommendations.
The government needs to facilitate the juvenile detention facilities to full capacity.This should
include employing more staff and juvenile detention facilities, providing more beds and
constructing more buildings at these detention facilities to accommodate the hiking population
at juvenile detention facilities.
In addition, government should monitor the presence and capacity of staff at the juvenile
dention facilities through an independent auditor to ensure that they are present at the
juvenile detention facilities and are effectively performing their duties.
The government also needs to educate and train staff at juvenile detention facilities on the
prohibition of corporal punishment against juvenile detainees and alternative forms of
discipline. As such government should also punish such staff that give juvenile detainees
corporal punishments.
Government should also employ an independent auditor to monitor compliance of the staff of
juvenile detention facilities on the prohibition of corporal punishment against juvenile
detainees.
The government should also construct onsite medical facilities at these juvenile detention
facilities to provide proper health care to the juvenile detainees. In the same bid, government
should employ dedicated medical officers to coordinate health services in juvenile detention
facilities.
Restorative justice should also be adopted . This is a concept that attempts to reshape the way
in which wrongs in society are perceived and as a result, the way in which justice is done. This
puts juvenile offenders at the centre of any process, rather than as witnesses or spectators, and
is an alternative to retributive justice, focusing more more on repairing harm caused by criminal
behavior of juvenile offenders. This can be through apology by the juvenile offenders, which
may be written or verbal , acknowledging harm caused by the juvenile offenders and expressing
remorse.
Also, restitution should be adopted especially in the communities where juvenile offenders
have committed crime. This involves payment of money to the victim or the victim's family.
However, this should be done on less serious crimes like theft, drug abuse among others.
Neither the victim nor the juvenile offenders should be coerced or induced to participate in the
restorative process but rather should be voluntarily accepted by both parties.
Conclusion
The government of Uganda has ratified international conventions and domesticated provisions
that advocate for the protection and promotion of children's rights in the national laws
pertaining children. These provide for adequate legislative and policy frame work necessary for
the protection of the needs of juvenile detainees .However, policies without implementation
are of little or no benefit. In order to demonstrate true commitment to juvenile detainees'
rights, the government must ensure that these provisions are adequately enforces in order to
prevent and address issues touching juvenile detainees.

BIBILIOGRAPHY

Constitution of Uganda 1995 as amended.

The Children Act of Uganda Cap 59 as amended 2016.

Marianne Moore, Juvenile Detention in Uganda, A review of Ugandan Remand

homes and the National Rehabilitation center, (2010).

Mugerwa Paul ‘Challenges of Rehabilitating delinquents juvenile in Uganda’

November (2010).
Nabwire Juliet, ‘Children in conflict with the law; An analysis of the Ugandan
juvenile justice system’ (2012).
UNICEF: Save the children, Juvenile Justice in Uganda: A situation analysis,
(2000).

https://www.fhri.or.ug