Margaret Orik Obonyo, the Northern Regional Prisons Commander, says hundreds of inmates comprising both male and female were relocated to Nwoya Prisons on Wednesday to reduce congestion at Gulu Main Prisons.
Unspecified number of inmates has been
relocated from Gulu Main Prisons to Nwoya Prisons in Anaka Town Council as a
preventive against the spread of COVID-19.
Margaret Orik Obonyo, the Northern
Regional Prisons Commander, says hundreds of inmates comprising both male and
female were relocated to Nwoya Prisons on Wednesday to
reduce congestion at Gulu Main Prisons.
Gulu Main Prisons hosts 1500 remand and
convicts inmates drawn from eight districts in Acholi Sub Region in Nwoya
Prisons in Ceke Ward in Anaka Town Council, which was commissioned last month, accommodates
300 inmates.
Orik, however, declined to disclose the number
of inmates that were relocated to Nwoya Prisons citing security reasons.
Last
week, Uganda Prisons Services Spokesperson, Frank Baine announced that several
isolation units in Gulu, Mbarara, Soroti and Kyejonjo districts had been
created where all newly remanded persons will be kept.
This he said is aimed at preventing
the likely transmission of COVID-19 in correctional facilities.
Baine explained
that the decision came after studies proved that prison facilities are at times
epicenters for infectious diseases.
