Prisons Service raises alarm over overcrowding, staff shortage

What the report says

Uganda’s Prisons Service has warned Parliament that prisons are operating far beyond capacity and with too few staff. According to the Nile Post report, Deputy Commissioner General of Prisons Samuel Akena briefed Parliament’s Defence Committee at Luzira Maximum Security Prison on the scale of the pressure facing the system.

The figures presented show a prison population of 83,682 against an approved accommodation capacity of 23,437, leaving an excess of more than 60,000 inmates. The service said this amounts to an occupancy rate of 357 percent. It also reported a staffing gap, with 14,756 employees in post out of an approved establishment of 39,462, meaning only about a third of positions are filled.

Akena said the overcrowding is driving up costs for food, shelter, sanitation, water, medical care, uniforms and prisoner transport to court. The report said most inmates are convicted prisoners, while a large share are on remand, with a small number classified as debtors. The service said the workload has left officers overstretched and unable to fully carry out their mandate.

The committee also visited prison production activities at Luzira, including carpentry workshops. The Prisons Service said these programmes are meant to support rehabilitation and give inmates vocational skills. More broadly, the issue highlights a common challenge in many prison systems: balancing custody, humane conditions and rehabilitation when prison populations rise faster than infrastructure and staffing.