Dr Johnson Byabashaija, the Commissioner-General of Uganda Prison Service announced the Uganda government’s plan to release some prisoners in the country because of the congestion of their prisons.
Dr Byabashaija added that the prison service has already cut off contact with the prisoners and the rest of the world. The prisoners are no longer allowed to have visitors because of the fear of the fast-spreading and dangerous COVID 19 virus outbreak in the prison.
New prisoners are also not being admitted into these congested prisons and are being isolated in newer prisons. It is not only the prisoners who have been cut off from receiving visitors, but the prison wards and staff are also alps being isolated from the rest of the world and have not been allowed to visit their families and vice versa.
Dr Byabashaija said that the main goal for this is so that the virus does not spread within the prisons and only new prisoners, prison staff and visitors can introduce the virus into the prisons.
I’m their move to decongest, Dr Byabashaija said that the prison service plans to select about 1500 – 2000 prisoners that have completed at least three-quarter of their sentence and are not capital offenders, also breastfeeding mothers that have served at least half their sentence who are not capital offenders, along with the prisoners who are 65 years old and above and have served a part of their sentence would be considered for release.
He said that the list would be made and soon be submitted to the Attorney General for consideration of pardon and this will allow the prisons to be decongested. He said that the list is being made carefully so that dangerous prop le would not be released back into the society.
