Prison series:The worst part of prison is losing touch with family

She has been in prison for nearly 20 years after the High Court sentenced her to death for murder and robbery, but Justin Nankya is hopeful that one day she will be free and be a productive member of the community, Charles Etukuri found out

 

Even after telling us that she dropped out of school in primary four, she insisted we conduct the interview in English and proudly told us she had learnt to speak the language while in prison.

 

For the longest serving female prisoner in Luzira Women Prison today, Nankya says it is her strength and resilience that has kept her going. She was convicted in 1992.

 

“When I was first brought to prison, I was very scared. I had heard many stories about prison and never planned to be a prisoner. I was supposed to be something in life,” she says. 

 

Nankya says she was very terrified and almost cried. My heart was pumping rapidly. “My mouth was dry and palms damp. I had heard all the stories about prison; violent assaults, rape and robberies. None were ever good. Not knowing what to expect, I found that emptiness was setting in.”

 

“I used to cry every time I would think about the things I was missing in the outside world, but slowly I came to terms with what happened. I spent the first few days engaging in emotional reflection and extensive self-assessment,” she adds.

“In the first year I was in the main Boma but when the High Court sentenced me, I was immediately taken to the condemn section and my movements were curtailed. I stayed in the condemn section for 15 years.”

 

Nankya was a beneficiary of the 2009 Supreme Court ruling that gave reprieve to death row inmates and had their sentence commuted to life imprisonment once they had stayed for more than three years.

 

Nankya is thankful to the prison authorities. “I have learnt so many things in prison and acquired several qualifications including a certificate in leadership, a diploma in bible study and also learnt how to make crafts.

 

“There are times when I sit and thank God for everything that I have gone through. The 20 years I have spent in prison are not a joke but I believe there was a purpose in everything that I am going through.”

 

She still maintains she is innocent and that her conviction was based on circumstantial evidence “I am serving a sentence that should never have been mine. My brother killed but when they came to arrest him, he escaped and instead it was me who was taken in.”

 

During the interview she kept on referring to the officer-in-charge of the women prison, Stella Nabunya, as Mama (mother) yet Nabunya is younger than her.

 

“ These are the people who have transformed me into what I am today,” she explains.

She adds that conviction and being sent to a confinement centre means one has  been effectively removed from contact with people from the outside world. 

 

“Less contact with friends and family on the outside means that most prisoners lose touch with who they used to be,” she says.

As a counsellor, she says the biggest problem she faces are prisoners who have lost hope in life after their families abandoned them or shy away from being associated with me. 

 

“Some of the prisoners are paying a price for the crimes they have committed. These inmates need the support of their relatives and communities,” she says. Just imagine how lonely it must feel to never see your relatives and friends, especially after being locked up for  several years. 

When friend and family desert you even run mad.” 

 

Nankya says people who live in prison want to be respected, they want to have hope, and they want to feel safe. 

Nabunya says they often study prisoners before they are given leadership roles.“We study their behaviour before we make them leaders.”

Nankya is the leader of Ward 2 associated with people with mental cases. 

 

On a typical day, she supervises the cleaning of her ward and personally cleans those who do not want to bathe and ensures those on medication take them in time.

“I have learnt to love them as my own,” she says.

 

Before imprisonment, she had dropped out of school to venture into business. When prison authorities introduced education, she was not keen to start with the pioneer class.

 

“My family used to come and visit me but they gave up because it was so tiring and I understand their situation,” she says.

 

Nankya says the biggest thing that happened to her was being able to acquire the certificate in counselling. “I have met fellow prisoners who give up on life once they realise that they are HIV-positive. I usually encourage them and tell them that there is still hope despite their condition. I feel so happy whenever somebody I talk to listens to me and changes.”

 

Prior to her arrest, Nankya was an established businesswoman who had a shop in Natete dealing in general merchandise. After her arrest in 1992, her friends looted the shop. She says upon being released she wants to fully venture into the crafts business.

 

Asked whether she had ever thought of escaping, “Why would I do that? some people have been shot as they tried to escape. I accepted my fate and I am happy and satisfied here,”  she says.