More unemployed youths have had no option but to join security forces just to put a meal on their plates. But this might also not be a good enough option as police, and prisons struggle to accommodate them.
Recently, President Yoweri Museveni passed out over 900 prison warders at Luzira prisons ground. But these have joined thousands of other warders who have no sleeping quarters.
As we report, over 2000 prison warders across the country are living in horrible conditions due to lack of sufficient staff houses.
According to Frank Baine, Prison Spokesperson, 1500 of the affected prison warders are in Luzira prison. He tells this site that while some live in dilapidated houses others don't have accommodation, which has forced them to improvise.
According to Baine, about 500 Prison warders in former local government prisons also live in dilapidated structures.
The prisons mouthpiece further tells us that some of the prison warders share buildings such as the canteen, gym and conference rooms that were not designed for accommodation. He says the staff shares the rooms with members of their families using papyrus reeds and card boxes. This leaves them with less or even no privacy.
At the maximum prisons in Luzira for instance, a large room that once served as a church and some stores, have been converted into accommodation for prison families. In some cases hundreds of prison warders and officers remain in the training school after completing their courses due to accommodation challenges.
Baine explains that although they are constructing 430 single room houses, they will not be enough as there will still be a gap of 1,570 rooms. "Our target is to construct 500 houses every year at Shillings 40 billion, with the hope that in 13 years we will construct houses for 6500," he said.
