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A prison officer has appealed to sponsors to set up a child care centre at Kisii prison to assist children below the age of 4 whose mothers are serving jail terms.

The officer in charge, Margaret Waithera said the children need the centre to be taught under Early Childhood Development Education ( ECDE).

Speaking at the Correctional Facility during the International Women’s Day Celebration, she said the children needed to be oriented at an early age to develop.

“We have mothers with their children here and they cannot be separated owing to their age and that is why we need support,” Waithera said.

She implored sponsors to help the facility set up a bakery to train inmates to acquire skills to enable them to make bread and snacks so that they can be able to set up bakery businesses once they complete their jail terms.

The Officer appealed to members of the public to embrace the inmates once they leave the correctional facilities and support them restart their lives.

“The inmates acquire vocational skills at prisons and are spiritually nourished. Do not discriminate against them. They have reformed and need support to be self-reliant,” the officer said.

She asked the inmates to consider joining women’s groups and merry-go-rounds in their villages to enhance savings to enable them to get funds to start businesses once they are released.

Kisii county First Lady, Mei Kwamboka Arati, accompanied by several Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) donated foodstuff and urged the inmates to be resilient and have hope of rejoining their families.

Nominated Member of Kisii County Assembly, Lilian Gor said members of the Assembly will take up the matter and support the children.

The MCA noted that children have a right to education and should access it regardless of where they are and the circumstances of their mothers.

“The children need a foundation just like others in schools and we will ensure that they get it,” Gor said during the celebration.

Deputy Registrar Dorcas Mac’andere said women in prison face challenges and judiciary officers often visit them to address them including aiding them with legal representation.

She said the Judiciary has embraced e-filing and virtual hearings of cases to expedite the cases to foster justice.

“The Judiciary is promoting justice and rights for women and children. We want to fight stereotypes to achieve gender equality, and empower women and girls,” Mac’andere said.

South West branch Law Society of Kenya (LSK) chairman, Gideon Nyambati lauded the women’s role in social, economic and political development and urged them to fight for the two-thirds gender rule.

“51 percent of Africa’s population are women and only 27 percent have taken up techno-related jobs. I urge them to fight for more posts to achieve the one-third gender rule,” he stated.

He urged women to compete with men for various posts so that they can get mileage.