President Yoweri Museveni has pardoned 178 foreign prisoners as a means to reduce on the number of inmates in prisons and prevent the spread of the COVID19 pandemic.
The foreigners were part of the 833 prisoners pardoned by the President.
According to Frank Baine the Prisons spokesperson, they submitted names of these 178 Rwandans and 163 Congolese to the directorate of Immigration for verification, as part of the requirements.
However on return, only 132 Rwandans were verified.
“When they were verifying, the number of the Rwandese reduced to 132 and others remained as Rwandese of Ugandan origin. Therefore, those who were finally repatriated were 132 Rwandans, not 178 as had earlier been indicated” Baine explained.
Meanwhile the number of Congolese prisoners pardoned was verified by the immigration and all 163 were repatriated.
He noted that some Rwandans were in prison for other crimes not related to immigration.
“We pardoned, immigration verified and then gave information to Ministry of Foreign Affairs which coordinated the handover. And gladly, all those that were proved to be Rwandans were successfully repatriated” Baine said.
Meanwhile, the Uganda prisons service is yet to receive results of samples taken from Kayiti prison, where one inmate tested positive for COVID-19, and the entire facility was put under quarantine.
However, Baine says the situation is normal at the prison and they will wait to inform the public, when the results come through.
