MPs question Luzira relocation project

Parliament has differed it's decision to determine the fate of Luzira prisons where government is planning to exchange the facility with an investor to develop the prisons into a modern five-star hotel.

Hon Jonathan Odur told parliament that the recommendations that parliament will pass can easily be challenged without a motion presented before Parliament.

State minister for internal affairs Gen David Muhoozi' presented before parliament government' plan to reallocate Luzira prison sitting on 260 acres to a private investor in exchange of building a modern prison outside Kampala.

In his submission, David Muhoozi' told Parliament chaired by speaker Anita Annet Among that, "the facility is congested" compared to the planned 1923 prisoners compared to the curent 8,790 iminates.

Muhoozi' also told Parliament that the prisoners security is also at risk with the developments that have since surrounded it calling for immediate relocation to a another place.

This coupled with the dilapidated structure of the prison compared to the surrounding developments Gen Muhoozi says makes it imperative to have the prison shifted.

However, the minister's statement to allocate the facility to a private developer was challenged with members of parliament cautioning the developer's financial capability while others termed the project as a financial scam to steal government funds.