Youth minister Balaam Pledges to Negotiate Release of Jailed Hawkers

The minister of state for Youth and Children Affairs Balaam Barugahare has pledged to plead with the president to reconsider pardoning the youth jailed over street vending across the country.

He says that since the president listened to him and released the National Unity platform members who had serious cases in prison, he will front a proposal to as well pardon the street vendors since their cases are light compared to that of the NUP released members.

He also observed the need for government to introduce a policy where people released from jail are taken to rehabilitation centres before rejoining the community.

“Its unfortunate that as government we do not have a programme of re-entry and rehabilitation of prisoners and this programme needs to be treated as important, I will introduce it and asked my fellow ministers in cabinet and the president to have a programme for the youth who leave jail,” Balaam explained.

“I informed the National Unity platform people that now my focus is on fighting for the release of hawkers who in prisons across the country, because they never killing anyboby, because their crime was selling things on the streets, so if they have served one months, two weeks, those street vendors deserve to be pardoned, that is the most important project I’m working on this year ,”said Balaam.

He said that instead of jailing youth vending on streets , the government should focus on jailing people who steal governments in projects like PDM.

“We must have a campaign of emptying prisons because there are hard core criminals who are stealing PDM money and animals and items, those are the people to fill jails but the youth who are the streets selling in wrong locations , those ones I will advocate for their pardon so that we incorporate them in societies in new markets,” noted Balaam.