President Museveni has given amnesty to 833 prisoners across the country as one of the measures to decongest prisons and minimize the spread of coronavirus.
Speaking to journalists at the Uganda Media Centre on Monday, Frank Baine, the spokesperson of the Uganda Prisons Services said the details of who is going to be released and what kind of sentences they have been serving will be communicated as of when they have worked them out.
Baine however revealed that the prisoners to be released had served three-quarters of their sentences for petty offences.
He added that breastfeeding mothers, pregnant women and all those above the age of 60 years who were also serving time for petty offences are also among those to be set free.
A fortnight ago, Uganda Prisons wrote to the Prerogative of Mercy committee headed by the Attorney General requesting for the release of over 2000 prisoners on minor offenses who had served three thirds of their sentences.
Despite the new development, Baine said the Attorney General is yet to write to the Commissioner-General guiding on how to implement the directive.
