Published on 05/02/2025
Parliament has directed the Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs to present a statement on prolonged pre-trial detention within a week.
The government was expected to address the issue on February 4, 2025. Lawmakers seek clarity on reports that some suspects have been jailed for up to 28 years without trial.
However, the Attorney General, Hon. Kiryowa Kiwanuka told House that the minister was unable to make all the necessary consultations saying the Judiciary was busy preparing the just concluded Supreme Court ruling on trial of civilians in the General Court Martial.
“I regret to report that we are unable to make this statement today, when the matter came up last week, the minister made an effort to meet the Chief Justice, the Judiciary team and the team was busy with the ruling that came in on Friday,” Kiryowa Kiwanuka said.
Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa said the basis for the minister’s failure to honour Parliament’s request was not convincing cognisant that the Uganda Prisons Service periodically provides information on the status of prisoners.
“The Uganda Prisons Service updates the Director of Public Prosecution and other relevant authorities after every six months on the number of prisoners they have and their status, I do not know why the meetings would be required, because the records are clear,” Tayebwa said.
The Chairperson of the Committee on Human Rights, Hon. Fox Odoi-Oywelowo said the committee provided the Attorney General’s Office with sufficient information from their oversight visits to prisons.
“We supplied to the Deputy Attorney General a comprehensive list of all remand prisoners who have been imprisoned for periods ranging from certain months to 28 years so, I believe he has sufficient information to work with,” Odoi-Oywelowo said.
He explained that the information submitted includes their locations, the crimes they were charged with, when they were arrested and the period they have stayed in incarceration.
Kiryowa Kiwanuka argued that his office cannot act on the information provided without hearing from the courts which remanded the prisoners in question.
“These are the people in the custody of the courts. Having the list in the Attorney General’s Chambers does not give us the mandate to act on them,” he said.
