Speaker Kadaga visits prisons, inmates share harrowing tales of living conditions, injustice

Inmates have decried the poor prison conditions and justice system that has unfairly kept many of them in jail.

The inmates, complained about poor feeding, health facilities,

congestion, denial of the right to vote, delayed appeals in court and an

unfair criminal justice system.

They raised the concerns to the Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca

Kadaga, during her visits to Bufulubi, Jinja main, Luzira and Kigo

prisons on Saturday, 22 December 2018.

Kadaga visited and presented Christmas gifts to the prisoners.

In Murchison Bay Prison, Luzira, Moses Abehikye, the inmates’

representative said that prisoners need to be given a chance to vote, a

right accorded by the Constitution. He said that Parliament has been

silent about the denied constitutional right.

"Inmates who are Ugandans remain citizens even when they are convicted, they should be accorded the right to vote," he said.

“We also want the Speaker to plead with the President over the

prerogative of mercy for the elderly inmates. By the time they grow old

they have been corrected,” he added.

In Kigo Prison, Tom Kawalya, the head of prisoners, said that many

criminal investigations of cases and arrests are not conducted well and

thoroughly.

“Many times when police arrest you and find out you are innocent they

work with the complainant and fabricate a case against you,” he said.

Kawalya said that this usually happens with defilement and rape

allegations, which usually arise out of misunderstandings over property

and land amongst relatives.

He noted that torturing and threatening of suspects is still common with police forcing people to give false evidence.

“Police does not properly investigate cases; a police officer will

come to court and testify over something they have no idea about,” said

Kawalya.

Robert Naimuli, the head of Kigo Prisons, complained of the delay in

responses to appeals filed by prisoners, saying that many times,

prisoners serve their sentences and are released before their appeals

are disposed of. 

He added that most of the inmates are in their productive age and

suggested that they are given short sentences and leave prison.

The head of Women Section in Kigo, Juliet Kabami, said that section

needs a day care centre and maternity clinic, as female inmates have to

move long distances to access a health centre with good facilities.

The Speaker noted the complaints raised by the prisoners and promised to come up with solutions to them.

“Parliament took a resolution increasing the pay when working out of

the prisons; we also asked the government to increase the judges to

respond to all the appeals and cases and we will look into the length of

sentences given to young and very old people so that they are reduced,”

she said.

Kadaga also promised to ask the House Committee on Human Rights to examine issues that affect the prisoners in the country.

She also promised to talk to the President about the prerogative of

mercy to decongest the prisons and to create a maternity clinic in all

women’s sections to attend to expecting mothers. 

Speaker Kadaga presented an assortment of gifts to the inmates ranging from kitchenware to bathroom accessories and food items.

"I am part of the All Saints Cathedral Church, Nakasero and we are

encouraged to bless a prisoner each year. This Christmas season I

decided to visit you to put a smile on your faces," she said.