The Commissioner of Prisons also Public Relations Officer-PRO Frank Baine has come out to clarify misinformation in the media that Uganda Prisons has already released 2000 prisoners into the communities following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Baine says the prisons department of Uganda is in the process of compiling the list of over 1500 to the Attorney General-AG that is expected to be submitted by Friday this week to be considered for the release of the inmates.
Once the list is approved by the attorney general, the listed prisoners across the country who have been serving part of their sentence will be set free as part of the government’s plan to decongest the prisons.
While holding a presser on Wednesday Baine set the record straight that the prisons have not yet released the list as earlier reported by some media houses but is still compiling it.
He explained that upon completion of the entire process, the president will be the one to pardon the inmates.
The Commissioner-General of Uganda Prisons Service, Dr. Johnson Byabashaija, was on the 6th of April 2020 was quoted as saying they have listed all prisoners who have completed three-quarters of their sentences, breastfeeding inmates and those aged 60 years and above.
“We are also working on decongesting our prisons and right now, the list of about 1,500 to 2,000 prisons who are not serving capital offenses are going to be sent to the AG for consideration of pardon. I hope this will partly decongest our prisons,” Byabashaija said.
Museveni while issuing directives on the ban of mass gatherings two weeks ago noted that the prisons have remained the only public institution with the highest concentration of people.
