Prisons turns inmates into cotton farmers
Oct 03, 2023
Kabuye left Kampala sobbing and cursing the officer in charge for transferring him to Ragem Prison Farm, a foreign land where he had neither hope of meeting his relatives nor being visited, but he now has a smile thanks to the prison transfer system.
Inmates of Ragem Prison Farm in Pakwach district load cotton onto a prison truck before it's taken to the ginnery. (Photos by Petride Mudoola)
Petride Mudoola
Journalist @New Vision
___________________ Prisoners of Ragem Prison Farm in Pakwach district take time to weed a cotton field under the watch full eye of a prison warder.
Coming out of prison with a skill could change a life after discharge. Ragem prison farm in Pakwach district is such.
James Kabuye 35, who is serving a two-year jail sentence for theft at Ragem Prison Farm had never seen a cotton plant in his life but his transfer from Luzira Maximum Security prison to a prison farm about 400km away turned out to be a game changer.
Kabuye left Kampala sobbing and cursing the officer in charge for transferring him to Ragem Prison Farm, a foreign land where he had neither hope of meeting his relatives nor being visited, but he now has a smile thanks to the prison transfer system.
Though he is in prison, his siblings have never lacked school fees not to say that he is rich or has left assets behind. But how has he managed to cater for his children while in jail? He is providing for his family from the fruits of his sweat while serving his sentence.
With sh300,000 deposited onto his prison account from cotton farming within the one-year sentence served at the prison, Kabuye pays tuition for his son and looks forward to investing in cotton farming upon his release.
The law signed by the internal affairs minister in 2000 requires that all prisoners providing labour to both private and government projects are entitled to compensation each time they are taken out to work.
Within the prison’s earning scheme, a skilled prisoner like a teacher, or carpenter, who offers a service is paid shillings 1, 398 per day, while a semi-skilled prisoner earns 699. A non-skilled prisoner, who mainly engages in digging, is given sh280 per day. The payment is a motivation for them to work and it is part of the prisons' move from penal to correctional rehabilitation.
Prisons Chief speaks out
Dr Johnson Byabashaija, the commissioner general of Prisons (Uganda Prisons Service), says Uganda Prison Services had majored in commercial maize farming and as a Government institution, Prisons are known to be the most productive institution.
“We started growing cotton in full swing considering the presidential directive which was given after the wealth creation campaign as income generation for families saw local farmers abandon cotton growing for quick yield and swift money minting crops,” Byabashaija observed.
Cotton requires intensive labour and involves costs in spraying and weeding. Considering these factors, farmers got discouraged from growing cotton and factories opted for other synthetic fibres as opposed to cotton.
“The few factories that were in place ended up being redundant due to lack of raw materials hence posing challenges to the textile industries since ginneries were not supplying cotton,” Byabashaija recalls.
President Museveni handed over the responsibility of large-scale cotton growing to the Uganda prisons in a move expected to boost cotton production in the country.
Owning 60,000 acres of arable land and a considerable experience in large-scale farming, the prison’s department is believed to be best suited to cultivate the crop, that had increasingly become unprofitable for small-scale farmers.
Byabashaija says the President issued a directive and gave them a target to produce one million bales of cotton per season as East African Regional Integration moves to abolish the importation of second-hand clothes.
On March 2, 2023y, the EAC heads of state summit in Arusha, directed the Council of Ministers to study the modalities of promoting textile and leather industries to stop the importation of used clothes, shoes, and other leather products.
Prison’s department can meet the demand of cotton ginneries required across the country that’s why the institution increased its cotton acreage last year to support the local textile manufacturing sector.
Prisons immediately implemented the presidential directive and have started growing cotton to cover 2,500 acres spread over 28 stations in the country. Prisons have dedicated 44,000 of the 60,000 acres of its arable land to cotton growing.
No Comment