More Than 73,000 Ugandans are in Jail as of Today

Net picture

As you read this, 73067 Ugandans are in jail, according to figures given by the Uganda Prisons Service (UPS) spokesperson, Frank Baine. The UPS statistics show out of the 73067 inmates in various jails, 36,785 are convicts while suspects on remand stand at 35,918.

A convict, according to Uganda Prison Act, is any person duly committed to custody under the writ, warrant, or order of any court exercising criminal jurisdiction or by order of a court martial. Therefore, the 36,785 people have been tried in courts of law and found guilty of committing the offences for which they were arrested and are now serving jail sentences also known as jail terms.

A person on remand is anyone who by any court or other competent authority charged with any crime or offence and has been delivered to the officer in charge of a gazetted jail facility alongside the warrant of commitment. Such a person is jailed in respect to the terms of the warrant and shall be presented to a court or competent authority as per the terms provided.

Therefore, the 35,918 remands are people whose trials are ongoing in courts of law and keep appearing for the hearing of their charges until a final judgment is given. Being on remand means the person has a chance of getting out of jail anytime he or she meets the requirements of court bail or when the court finds no ingredients warrant a conviction for the offences he or she was arrested for.

Not only convicts and remands are filling Ugandan jails. There are also 364 prison debtors who have failed to meet the court fines or debts which could be the money they borrowed, or property destroyed. Such debtors often arise from civil cases.

UPS’s latest figures show the number of inmates has bulged in the last few months. Since this year began, UPS numbers of inmates have been not exceeding 69,000. In May this year, the Uganda Law Society (ULS) and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) launched the Prisons Decongestion and Access to Justice Project intended to reduce the number of inmates in jails.

This was to be achieved through increasing awareness among prisoners so that they could be able to explore other legal avenues such as plea-bargain. The Director of Public Prosecution, Justice Jane Frances Abodo, said the choice to arraign every suspect in court was making the numbers of prisoners swell very fast.

Some of the cases that have contributed to the biggest number of inmates include theft, domestic violence, burglary, assault, and defilement. Police’s annual crime report of 2021 shows there were 1,095 cases of assault resulting in death.

Hunting Vodka you should always trust. Call us on 0754649086