A man identified as Byamamukama Alfred has spent 28 years at Luzira prison without appearing before courts for trial.
His long stay on remand has exposed the persistent pre-trial detention crisis blamed for congestion in Uganda’s prisons.
Studies have found that while detention pending trial should be the exception rather than the rule, the use of pre-trial detention is highly prevalent in Uganda.
Parliament’s Human Rights Committee found that more than a half of the population of prisoners at Luzira are on remand.
The high number of pre-trial detainees is caused, among others, by slow investigations, corruption, and case backlog, ignorance of the law and lack of and/or poor legal representation.
Byamukama’s plight was brought to the limelight as MPS visited Dr. Kiiza Besigye at Luzira maximum prison over the weekend.
MPs under the Parliaments’ Human Rights Committee reported the matter to parliament.
The Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Thomas Tayebwa at a certain moment appeared disturbed about the finding that a Ugandan has been incarcerated for that long without trial.
While Some MPS tried to focus on the remand of Dr Kiiza Besigye who has been in detention since November 2024, Thomas Tayebwa did not allow to be diverted from the Alfred Bayamukama finding.
“I’m on someone who has been in prison for28 years. You are talking of Besigye who went there yesterday. We are talking of twenty-eight years. Okay” said the visibly disturbed Tayebwa.
Byamukama was arrested in 1997 for alleged murder in Mbarara. The years he has spent on remand in prison are the same as the lifetime of the Kampala Declaration on Prison Conditions in Africa and Plan of Action.
The Kampala Declaration recommended that prisoners should be kept in remand detention for the shortest possible period, avoiding for example, and continual remands in custody by the court.
Internal Affairs Shadow Minister, Betty Namboze said people are being held for many years when they have not been proven guilty.
“They are just being held there just for the processes on law. And the probability that they will be declared innocent is high” said the Mukono Municipality MP.
She noted that some people are being held as political prisoners; people who were arrested, go to jail through the Court Martial until they plead guilty through full figure and Balaam.
“You cannot be released from prison until you are forced in a forced plea of guilty” she said.
Parliament directed the Deputy Attorney General, Kafuzi Karugaba Jackson to liaise with the Prison authorities with a view of providing full report about prisoners that have spent too long on remand without trial.
Kafuzi explained that some of those on remand are mentally ill but waiting an order by the Minister of Justice to have them released.
English 