Moroto, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The escape of prisoners from Moroto government prison last week isn’t surprising according to inside sources. They note that there have been unresolved management flaws that didn’t receive attention from top management. “For all the years I have worked in Moroto prisons, selection of …
Read More »Moroto prison break poses security, health threats
Moroto, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The escape of 219 prisoners from Moroto prison has triggered panic in the community and within the leadership in the district. Official records indicate that the prisoners fled with 15 guns and 400 rounds of ammunition and none has been recovered. This adds into …
Read More »Prisoners, Ugandans in diaspora to vote in 2026
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Ugandans in the diaspora and the prisoners will be able to participate in the 2026 general elections but not in 2021 as had been earlier ordered by the High Court. This is according to the consent order signed by the Electoral Commission lawyers led by …
Read More »Court allows Ugandans in diaspora, prisoners to participate in elections
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The High Court in Kampala has ordered the government and the Electoral Commission to allow Ugandans in Diaspora and those in prison to participate in elections. The order was issued this morning by Justice Lydia Mugambe, on the basis of a petition filed two years …
Read More »Uganda pardons 180 Rwandan prisoners
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | One hundred and eighty of the 833 prisoners recently pardoned by President Yoweri Museveni were Rwandans. The release of the 180 Rwandans is a sign that despite the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, Uganda is continuing to implement measures agreed in the Luanda Peace …
Read More »President Museveni pardons 833 prisoners
Kamopala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has exercised the powers given to him under article 121 of the 1995 Constitution to pardon 833 prisoners around the country. Speaking to reporters at the Uganda Media Centre on Monday, Frank Baine, the spokesperson of the Uganda Prisons Services …
Read More »Ukraine swaps prisoners with rebels ahead of Orthodox Easter
Kiev, Ukraine | AFP | Ukraine’s government on Thursday swapped prisoners with Russia-backed separatists in the war-torn east of the country, ahead of Orthodox Easter celebrations. Twenty people who had been held captive in two breakaway regions were handed over to the government, Kiev said. Separatists took back 14 prisoners but …
Read More »COVID-19: Uganda Prisons seeks to release 2,000 inmates
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Close to 2,000 prisoners could be released in a move to decongest the facilities as one of the control measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus. The Commissioner-General of the Uganda Prisons Services, Dr. Johnson Byabashaija, says they have written to the Attorney …
Read More »Anxiety grows for Egypt jail inmates at time of virus shutdowns
Cairo, Egypt | AFP | In Egypt’s overcrowded and putrid jails, families of prisoners fear a potentially catastrophic coronavirus outbreak and are calling for their imminent release as the rest of the country hunkers down. Egypt has halted family visits to inmates at least until the end of this month citing …
Read More »US prisons a potential coronavirus ‘tinderbox’
Washington, United States | AFP | As the United States grapples with the coronavirus pandemic, there is concern not only for the elderly but also for another vulnerable population: prisoners. The US has the highest rate of incarceration in the world and experts have warned that infections could potentially spread rapidly …
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