Moroto, Uganda | URN | More than 600 inmates are squeezed into Moroto Government Prison, which was designed to accommodate only 160 prisoners, with nearly 600 sharing just three toilets, the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) has found. The Commission has raised concerns over the overcrowding, describing the conditions as a threat to inmates’ health, dignity and access to justice.
The shocking findings were made during an inspection of Moroto Government Prison and other detention facilities in the Karamoja sub-region by a UHRC delegation led by its Chairperson, Mariam Fauzat Wangadya, on Monday. Wangadya said the male wing was particularly congested, with inmates sleeping in extremely cramped conditions and sharing inadequate sanitation facilities.
“And then the space for bedding. What passes as a bed is maybe one third of an ordinary medium-sized mattress, one third or a quarter. So, these people sleep like sardines packed together,” Wangadya said. The Commission also found that many inmates had spent more than five years on remand, with a significant number facing trial before the Court Martial, which reportedly convenes only once a year and handles a limited number of cases.
At least 150 inmates were facing trial before the Court Martial, with aggravated murder among the dominant charges, according to Wangadya. The inmates complained about delayed justice and limited access to legal representation, saying many could not afford private lawyers. Although the government assigns lawyers to suspects facing capital offences, some inmates alleged that state-appointed advocates pressured them into plea bargains, including admitting to offences in exchange for lighter sentences.
Others claimed they were being detained for crimes committed by different people, including murder suspects who had allegedly confessed outside prison, but whose cases had not resulted in the arrest of the purported perpetrators. The delegation also encountered a 19-year-old who was arrested at the age of 16 and was still being held at the prison.
Wangadya said inmates facing trial before the Court Martial questioned why they were not enjoying the same bail protections available to suspects appearing before civilian courts. They called for equal access to bail and faster disposal of their cases. The delegation, which included a representative of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), also established that some cases pending before the High Court had stalled because relevant case files were unavailable.
Wangadya said some state attorneys had indicated that they intended to discontinue prosecutions through a nolle prosequi, a formal notice by the DPP discontinuing criminal proceedings. However, the files had not been returned by the DPP by the time the delegation concluded its engagement, leaving the affected inmates in detention. “However, by the time that session ended, the DPP had not yet sent back those files. So unfortunately, they have to remain on remand. We wish that those files for nolle prosequi should be expedited,” she said.
She said the Commission would engage the DPP over the delays. Beyond the conditions affecting inmates, the Commission raised concerns about the accommodation of junior prison officers, saying some lack access to flush toilets and instead rely on pit latrines. Wangadya attributed the persistent congestion partly to population growth, noting that many prisons were constructed during the colonial era when Uganda’s population was considerably smaller, without corresponding expansion to accommodate the increasing number of inmates.
She called on the government to construct additional prison facilities and expand existing infrastructure to address the overcrowding. The delegation also found 22 mothers living with their children in a cramped section of the prison, where the children had inadequate space to play. Wangadya said the children shared meals with their mothers and used the same bathing facilities, raising concerns about their welfare and living conditions.
To ease congestion, she urged authorities to consider alternatives to imprisonment for minor offences that would ordinarily attract fines or community service. She also encouraged the use of plea bargaining to expedite criminal proceedings and reduce the number of inmates held on remand.
