15 Year Anniversary

Namsa*  is a 28 year old woman and mother of 4 children, including a 7 months old baby . Namsa’s husband, who was sole breadwinner, died a year ago leaving her a widow and economically challenged as she has been unable to find employment. 

In early August 2021, she met a man and made an arrangement to sell him some cement.  This man ended up giving her Le 6 million for the cement but she failed to supply him any cement as had been agreed.  

The man then proceeded to make a statement against her at the Waterloo police station, and she was later arrested and detained. Our social worker met her during her regular police station monitoring.  Namsa disclosed to the social worker that she had been detained for about 3 weeks and it could become longer as she does not have legal representation. She also said that she is a widow, was detained with her baby and has other children whom she cannot support as she is locked up. 

Our social worker informed our AdvocAid paralegal who gave her legal advice about her rights . AdvocAid’s Duty Counsel lawyer provided her with legal representation. During this time, our social worker was providing her with social welfare support especially baby items like baby food and baby clothes.  

After a while, the police investigation was concluded and Namsa was charged to court for the offence of obtaining money under false pretenses.  As the offence was bailable, the Duty Counsel applied for bail during the court proceedings which was granted. However, it was challenging for Namsa to find someone who would agree to stand as a surety for her so she could be released on bail.  With this obstacle, she remained detained  at the Waterloo Correctional Center for about four months with her baby. In January 2022, she was found guilty of the offence at the Magistrates Court in Waterloo. AdvocAid's Duty Counsel, made a passionate plea in mitigation on behalf of Namsa and craved the indulgence of the Magistrate to “tamper justice with mercy” by imposing a fine rather than giving her a custodial sentence. The Duty Counsel argued that if our client spent a year in prison, it would have an adverse effect on her family as there would be no one to take care of her children. During the time she spent detained, her children had turned to beggars,  sometimes surviving through the help of some neighbors. 

Taking into consideration the Duty Counsel’s argument, the Magistrate fined Namsa the sum of Le 500,000 and was also considerate not to order her to pay compensation to the complainant as she is a widow, a mother of five and did not  have the means to pay the fine at the moment. AdvocAid proceeded to pay the fine to secure Namsa’s release and enabled her to reunite with her children. 

Our social worker continues to maintain contact with Namsa and her relatives, encouraging them to provide her with the social support system that she needs. 

For fifteen years, AdvocAid has been able to provide critical legal support to many women and girls, such as Namsa, who would otherwise be overlooked. We can only do this through supporters like yourselves. A big tenki (thank you!) from us.