• News
  • Sport
  • TV
  • Radio
  • Education
  • TV Licences
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
  • SOUTH AFRICA
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • SPORT
  • AFRICA
  • WORLD
  • SCI-TECH
  • LIFESTYLE
  • FEATURES
  • OPINION
Home Africa

Uganda’s prisoner population surges, raising fears of COVID-19 outbreak

7 August 2020, 1:37 PM  |
Reuters Reuters |  @SABCNews
[File image] Uganda’s jails can comfortably accommodate only 20 000 inmates, according to the prisons' service.

[File image] Uganda’s jails can comfortably accommodate only 20 000 inmates, according to the prisons' service.

Image: Twitter @WHOUganda

[File image] Uganda’s jails can comfortably accommodate only 20 000 inmates, according to the prisons' service.

Uganda has recorded a 10% increase in the number of people in jail since March, a prison official told Reuters on Friday, with thousands jailed for alleged violations of coronavirus lockdown rules.

By imposing one of Africa’s strictest lockdowns, the country of 42 million has registered just 1 213 COVID-19 cases and five deaths from the disease, despite crumbling public hospitals, doctors’ strikes and corruption scandals.

But there have been at least three cases of the novel coronavirus in jails, fuelling concerns it could spread among prisoners. About 30 inmates who feared infection have escaped since the pandemic hit Uganda, though some have since been recaptured.

“Fear of contracting COVID-19 has been fuelling anxiety among inmates and we had mass escapes at two prisons,” said Frank Baine, spokesman for Prisons service.

Confirmed COVID-19 cases on the African continent:

Over 992,000 confirmed #COVID19 cases on the African continent – with more than 671,000 recoveries & more than 21,000 deaths cumulatively.

➡️View country figures & more with the WHO African Region COVID-19 Dashboard: https://t.co/V0fkK8dYTg pic.twitter.com/q3iwp2BaOz

— WHO African Region (@WHOAFRO) August 6, 2020

Correctional facilities worldwide have been fertile ground for COVID-19. Africa’s prison population of more than 1 million is especially vulnerable because of overcrowding, malnutrition and limited healthcare, health experts say.

Authorities in Togo, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa and Kenya have reported COVID-19 outbreaks in their prisons.

The number of prisoners in Uganda has risen from 59 000 to 65 000 in five months, exacerbating overcrowding, Baine said, adding that lockdown violations — such as defying curfews, travel bans and restrictions on using vehicles — accounted for the unusually large increase in inmates.

“During the lockdown, people continued to commit crimes but the justice system more or less came to a standstill so the prisoner population inevitably went up,” Baine said.

Uganda’s jails can comfortably accommodate only 20 000 inmates, according to the prisons’ service.

“Anything beyond 20,000 is stretching our capacity,” he said, adding that an amnesty by President Yoweri Museveni for some violators of COVID-19 regulations was now starting to reduce the prisoner numbers.

During the lockdown, a ban on private and public vehicles prevented some inmates being taken to court for hearings and some were unable to travel home immediately when they had served their sentences.

Confirmed coronavirus cases around the world: 

 

Share article
Tags: Yoweri MuseveniPrisonCOVID-19Ugenda
Previous Post

State Security Agency to conduct lifestyle audits on Makhura, MECs

Next Post

Sterling set for miniscule weekly gain after new US-China standoff

Related Posts

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni

Italy’s Meloni in Libya to conclude $8 billion gas deal

28 January 2023, 4:35 PM
African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina

Development partners commit $30 bln to food production in Africa

27 January 2023, 4:36 PM
[file photo]Athletes exercise in the early morning in the sports ground of the University of Eldoret in western Kenya, March 21, 2016. REUTERS/Siegfried Modola/File Photo

Kenyan Lempus gets five-year ban for doping violation

26 January 2023, 2:06 PM
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken looks on during a meeting with Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu at the State Department in Washington, US, January 18, 2023.

US blocks entry to those ‘undermining’ Nigerian democracy

26 January 2023, 6:39 AM
Tanzanian opposition leader Tindu Lissu

Tanzanian opposition leader returns home after two years in exile

25 January 2023, 2:34 PM
Eswatini human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko

International outrage over Eswatini human rights lawyer’s brutal murder

25 January 2023, 11:43 AM
Next Post
Versus the euro sterling was slightly up at 90.265 pence per euro.

Sterling set for miniscule weekly gain after new US-China standoff

Most Viewed

  • 24hrs
  • Week
  • Month
  • Scorcher predicted in Northern Cape for two weeks
  • Residents shut down Komani over power woes
  • ANC slams DA’s march to Luthuli House
  • No registration fee will be charged to NSFAS-funded students: Nzimande
  • Limpopo man arrested after discovery of his wife’s body in water-filled pit toilet
  • Parts of the Northern Cape to be exempted from rolling blackouts
  • VIDEO | St Benedict College’s Matric learner gets 11 distinctions
  • Limpopo matriculant from child-headed household attains diploma pass
  • Female circumcision practice thriving in Eastern Cape
  • Premier denies claims that KZN government spent millions on Mampintsha’s funeral
  • Limpopo man arrested after discovery of his wife’s body in water-filled pit toilet
  • Gas leak shut, isolated in Pretoria North
  • Mahlengi Bhengu replaces Pule Mabe as ANC chief spokesperson
  • EFF cuts ties with IFP in KwaZulu-Natal
  • Malema calls on South Africans to reject Just Energy Transition

LATEST

Jacob Zuma
  • South Africa

Decision on Judge Koen on recusal matter in case involving Zuma to be heard on Monday


Models present creations at the Gucci Fall/Winter 2023/2024 menswear show in Milan, Italy January 13, 2023.
  • Lifestyle

Gucci names De Sarno as creative director with the task of reviving the brand


People carry a banner reading " We are also teaching fighting" as school workers demonstrate for better salaries and working conditions, in Lisbon, Portugal January 28, 2023.
  • South Africa

Tens of thousands of teachers march in Lisbon to demand better pay and conditions


The Lebombo Border Post between South Africa and Mozambique.
  • South Africa

Stolen cars recovered near Mozambican border


South Africa's Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor shakes hands with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, ahead of their bilateral meeting in Pretoria, South Africa, January 23, 2023.
  • Politics

DA slams SA government for defending the military exercise with Russia


Crew members signal to a F/A-18E Super Hornet fighter jet preparing to take off for a routine flight on board the U.S. USS Nimitz aircraft carrier during a routine deployment to the South China Sea, Mid-Sea, January 27, 2023.
  • World

US four-star general warns of war with China in 2025


Weather

  • About the SABC
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs
  • Advertise
  • Disclaimer
  • Site Map

SABC © 2022

No Result
View All Result
  • SOUTH AFRICA
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • SPORT
  • AFRICA
  • WORLD
  • SCI-TECH
  • LIFESTYLE
  • FEATURES
  • OPINION

© 2022

Previous State Security Agency to conduct lifestyle audits on Makhura, MECs
Next Sterling set for miniscule weekly gain after new US-China standoff