Grapevine

Why convicts now outnumber remandees in Uganda prisons

Previously, the prisons had more inmates on remand than the convicts serving their various sentences. But the trajectory has in the recent past since changed with now the convicts being more than those on remand.

Statistics obtained from the Prisons show that there are 41,065 convicts, while those on remand awaiting the court’s decision are 36,284. The debtors are 523, bringing the total of the inmates to 77,872.

This means that the convicts are now more than those on remand by 4,781.

Explaining why there has been a shift in numbers, Mr Frank Baine, the Prison's spokesperson, attributed it to the raft of innovations brought about by the legal system like plea bargaining.

“The game changer has been the introduction of the plea-bargaining program. It’s the one that has brought the remand numbers down and increased on the convicts,” Mr Baine said in a telephone interview yesterday.