The Leader of Opposition (LoP), Joel Ssenyonyi, together with other opposition Members of Parliament, have expressed concern over delayed justice and congestion in Ugandan prisons.

These remarks were made on February 14, 2024, during a visit to Luzira and Kitalya prisons, led by Ssenyonyi and other opposition parliamentarians, in order to assess the condition of these prisons.

According to Ssenyonyi, the prisons are overcrowded, and they are holding inmates more than their capacity, which is a result of a slow and biassed judicial system that has denied many prisoners bail on political grounds.

“These prisons are overcrowded; for example, Murchison Bay in Luzira, which was built to accommodate 600 inmates, has 2,933 inmates, and more than half of them are on remand. The same situation also applies to other prisons like Kitalya,” Ssenyonyi stated.

“The current capacity is five times more than the number of inmates that are meant to be in these prisons, which is very problematic and a violation of their human rights,” he added.

Ssenyonyi further urged that many of these inmates have been in jail for many years on trumped-up charges, like Olivia Lutaya, a mother of two, who has been in prison and denied bail, yet the state claims that they are still looking for evidence. He said that such excuses are unacceptable because these people have families to take care of.

He further emphasized that on Monday, February 19, 2024, opposition members of parliament are going to mobilize themselves to be present with their national IDs and letters from their area local councils so that they can go as sureties for those with court hearings.