President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has pardoned a total of 200 inmates, including Jimmy Lwamafa, the former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Public Service.

Frank Baine, the Prisons Spokesperson, confirmed the development, saying those who have been pardoned are contained on the list signed and released by the President on August 20, 2023.

“The inmates who qualified for the pardon were minor offenders, the elderly over 65 years of age, and breast-feeding mothers who have served 50% of their sentence,” said Baine.

He said the decision to pardon the inmates is vested in the president under Article 121(1)(a) of the constitution of the Republic of Uganda.

“I hereby grant pardon to the persons mentioned on grounds of public health and humanitarian grounds, the statement reads in part.

Article 121 (4) (b) permits the President to, on the advice of the advisory committee, grant a person a respite, either indefinitely or for a specified period, from the execution of punishment imposed on him or her for an offence.

Lwamafa was sentenced together with Christopher Obey, the former Principal Accountant in the Pensions Department, Stephen Kiwanuka Kunsa, the former Director Research and Development and city lawyer Bob Kasango who had earlier been convicted of a number of charges ranging from conspiracy to defraud, conspiracy to commit a felony and forgery of judicial documents by the Anti-Corruption Court.