The aching ordeal of a mothers’ stay in prison after a flawed trial

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A mother of seven who was arrested in Kampala, charged and erroneously imprisoned has finally reunited with her children after more than a month since the incident.

Lillian Achiro, 41 was vending oranges, tangerine and lemons when she was arrested by the police for defying presidential directives on the management of coronavirus disease at the beginning of April. The President had restricted transport, directed people to stay home and instituted a night-time curfew.

Upon arrest, Achiro says they were all loaded on the police pick-up and rushed to the Central Police Station-CPS in Kampala.

At CPS, they sat in the compound under the scorching sunshine as more than 50 others were brought in. Police took a record of their names and place of abode before arraigning them before magistrate Stella Maris Amabilis at Buganda Road Magistrates Court. According to court records, Achiro with 19 others were charged for defying lawful orders to which they pleaded guilty.

She recalls the magistrate saying the offence attracted a two-year jail term but they were instead given a generous sentence of three months’ imprisonment. After sentencing, Achiro’s spirit sunk and almost burst out in tears, she told Uganda Radio Network in an interview. “I wished I could explain to court so they could let me go but, I kept quiet” she narrates.

As the courts closed and the day ended, they were driven off to Kitalya prison, 55 kilometres off Kampala Mityana road in Wakiso district. Aboard a highly speeding police vehicle, Achiro narrates how they tightly held each other as some prayed for dear life. The officers, cheered the driver saying after all they were not carrying eggs.

They arrived in Kitalya prison after midnight and given blankets to keep themselves warm with nowhere to sleep. In the morning, they all were assigned numbers before they were served their first meal since their arrest, at 2pm the previous day.

Later, Achiro and a colleague identified as Gasi Madalena were transferred to Kigo prison. While there, Achiro was subjected to more than three hours of digging. She hadn’t dug in more than 17 years. Her arms and chest ache to date.

Achiro is the sole provider of her family since her husband was taken back to Pader district after suffering a stroke. While in prison, her children had no one to care for them. Her 15-year-old daughter solely fended for the family using handouts from neighbours and other sympathizers.

However, on Friday, May 24, Achiro says prison officers called her and Madalena out saying they had been freed. She had no idea that her story had been taken up by the media and attracted the intervention of the Women Pro Bono initiative led by Primah Kwagala.

Kwagala and David Kabanda had gone to the High Court challenging Achiro and her colleague’s sentence. Kwagala told the court that she visited the family on May 16, and found seven children in one room with no hope, no food and no idea about their mother’s whereabouts. But in the pursuit of justice, she established that there were glaring irregularities in the procedure of recording the plea of guilt and the convicted persons never understood the charges against them.

The court then quashed their sentence and ordered for their immediate release when the High Court Criminal Division Justice Wilson Kwesiga pointed out that the lower court convicted and sentenced the accused persons following a charge-sheet that did not clearly show  the offence they had committed.   This was the beginning of Achiro’s path to freedom, a move she never saw coming, but one that has given her hope and reunited her with her children.

Achiro’s return brought joy to her family. When we visited her over the weekend, she carried her three-year-old son on her lap as the rest of the children had breakfast outside the house. Her eldest daughter Suzan Akello who featured in our earlier report narrating their ordeal expressed happiness upon her mother’s return.

Achiro’s brother Patrick Obura and sister Josephine Asiro also visited that morning. Asiro said she was grateful her sister was back to her children.

Kabanda told URN that Achiro’s case shows gaps in the justice system. “The justice system at the lower level seems not to care about who you are. They ignore criminal justice principles,” he added.

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URN