Harriet Akello will spend the next 12 months pondering on how she can lead a meaningful life and ensure better lives for her children after she was jailed over theft.

The Ibanda Grade One magistrate’s court sentenced the mother of three to two years in prison for stealing a laptop bag, a national identity (ID) card, job appointment and confirmations letters, a sweater, a work ID card, passport-size photos and a Stanbic Bank money pass in Ibanda town in February 2022. The items belonged to Margaret Tumushabe, a nursing assistant from Buhanda in Kitagwenda district.

Akello, 30, had told court presided over by Her Worship Esther Murungi, that she was the sole breadwinner for the children. She prayed for a lenient jail term so she could return home in northern Uganda to “ensure they get basics of life and also stay on the right path”.

The magistrate answered her prayer, handing her a two-year prison sentence, less of the time spent on remand. This means that Akello will be reunited with the children after just over one year in jail. The convict was arrested in July last year. 

Theft, which contravenes sections 254 (i) and 261 of the Penal Code Act, attracts up to 10 years in prison on conviction.