Nyamupinga honoured for work with prisoners

Beauty Rita Nyamupinga has been awarded an honorary doctorate in Philanthropy by The Institute of Philanthropy Zimbabwe (PIZ) for her efforts to improve the lives of female prisoners.

Together with 11 other women and five men, including property barons Philip Chiyangwa and Stephen Margolis, she was conferred with her degree at a ceremony in Harare on Saturday.

PIZ is an affiliate of the International Institute of Philanthropy. The award was in recognition of her exceptional work stretching over more than a decade.

PIZ was registered in June 2014 and, according to its founding, Enrico Mangono Sibanda, it has the right to identify suitable candidates who have done exceptional work in charity, community development and nation building.

Crucial roles

“The doctorates are not for employment purposes and have nothing to do with academic achievements. They are an acknowledgement of crucial roles played in society by unsung heroes,” explained Sibanda.

Notable people conferred with similar doctorates by the institute in the past include music king Oliver Mutukudzi, United Family Church International’s Ruth Makandiwa, Zimbabwe National Roads Administration Chief Executive Frank Chitukutuku, Isabel Chihuri, wife of Police Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri, Christ Embassy Pastor Musarurwa and Avenues Clinic managing director Merissa Kambani.

Nyamupinga, 54, is the founder of the Female Prisoners Support Trust (FEMPRIST), which mobilises resources and different forms of support for female prisoners.

“We provide resources such as toiletries and sanitary wear for inmates. When they leave prison we supply them with starter packs of basic groceries and seed capital to start various projects. We also mediate the reconciliation of those released with their families and communities,” Nyamupinga told The Zimbabwean.

Follow-ups

The trust also makes regular follow-ups to assess whether the former prisoners have reformed or need other forms of assistance.

Given the widespread stigmatisation attached to women ex-convicts, many suffer enormously at the hands of their families and intolerant members of the community. FEMPRIST also helps develop the skills acquired by the ex-prisoners whilst in prison.

Beneficiaries are given refresher courses in basket weaving, poultry and gardening. Those in need of some cash injection are given seed capital to kick-start their projects. The trust has helped to reduce the possibility of the former convicts returning to a life of crime.

“Without adequate support, former convicts often resort to crime in order to survive or to get back into prison where they feel comfortable with available food and a roof over their head,” said Nyamupinga.

Challenges

But FEMPRIST’s activities are not without challenges. The struggling economy has resulted in the organisation working with a shoestring budget, mainly supported by well-wishers from the corporate world as it has been unable to source donor funding yet.

Nyamupinga bemoaned the reluctance by some families to accept former prisoners back into family structures. “The family and communities should give former convicts a second chance, as they would have been educated on good behaviour and given empowerment skills while in prison,” she said.

In partnership with Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association, Women’s Coalition Zimbabwe and the Humanitarian Information and Facilitation Centre, FEMPRIST has big plans for the future, should resources permit.

There is a lobby for prison authorities to renovate prison infrastructure to suite woman inmates, as the jails were constructed long back when only men were expected to commit crimes and go to jail.

Nyamupinga is pushing for the provision of a nursing mothers’ unit to avoid interaction between children in prison with their mothers and other inmates. She noted that some inmates used vulgar language that would impact negatively on the children.

Half-way homes

FEMPRIST also has big ambitions to provide half-way homes for released inmates who struggle to re-join their families. The women would be accommodated at the shelters while FEMPRIST mediates their reconciliation with families and communities. Lack of shelter has been cited as one of the reasons that might force former convicts to commit crimes.

FEMPRIST was formed 2011 and works with all the country’s 46 prisons and holding cells. It was formed after Nyamupinga realised that rights and the welfare of women prisoners were not catered for by any other human rights organisations.

She is no stranger to police holding cells, having been arrested on several occasions by police for participating in protests against human rights. This is how she began to interact with detained women and determined to help them.

Biography

Nyamupinga was born in Kadoma in 1960, in a family of four boys and one girl. She did primary education at Mupamombe Primary before proceeding to Christe Mambo in Rusape for secondary school.

From 1981-2004 she worked at the Posts and Telecommunications. She championed the rights of children and women as a board member of Women’s Coalition for four years from 2007, during which time the organisation staged many demonstrations against human rights violations.