Africa-Press – Uganda. Prisoners on remand have developed a favourable scheme in an effort to extricate capital offenders from likely severe sentences, senior officials at the Uganda Prisons Service (UPS) have revealed.
It is alleged that capital offenders on remand have since adopted a strategy through courts of law that dupes and prompts them to order the release of the purported complainants.
Prison officials say that the erstwhile remorsefulness culture under the plea bargain process has been manipulated by capital committals. Chief among them are those who have overstayed on remand and mastered the skill of surmounting proportionate sentences to their offenses.
“This strategy has been adopted by prisoners and unless courts undertake proactive engagement of prisons administrators, prisoners will continue to utilise the principle of non-interference during trial to evade justice,” said a senior officer who preferred anonymity.
The officer added: “It is against this background that a special acknowledgement is accorded to your effective chain-linked criminal justice culture for having sought for investigations before quickly arriving at a conclusion.”
The revelation follows the release of Martin Nshimiyimaana by the High Court at Mubende basing on complaints of torture, which sparked an investigation into the alleged torture claims against prison officials at Kitalya prison.
Mr Nshimiyimaana appeared in the media, accusing the prison personnel of beating and forcing him into hard labour, which allegedly weakened his body.
Probe findings
A February 24 report absolved prison personnel of torturing Nshimiyimaana.
“The deduction from the investigation revealed two critical findings: the complainant’s past underlying backache challenges attributed to the accident suffered in 2007, long before admission to prison in 2019,” the report reads in part.
The report also red-flagged Tonny Kiyimba’s claim—also made in the media— that he was brutally beaten by prison personnel after he was remanded to Masaka Prison on accusations of rape and defilement. Kiyimba alleged that he had been tortured from Masaka Prison before he was transferred to Kitalya prison.
Mr Frank Baine, the Uganda Prisons Service (UPS) spokesperson, advised the Justice Law and Order Sector partners not to be gullible.
“There are emotional setups of those presiding over the cases and they make decisions without consulting us,” he said, adding: “Those accusations are isolated cases.”
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