Ugandan prisons Service to adopt Rwandan practices

The Deputy Commissioner General of Uganda Prisons Service (UPS), James Mwanje, has said that his institution will adopt various initiatives undertaken by Rwanda Correctional Services (RCS). The official made the remarks, over the weekend, at the end of a week-long study tour by a UPS delegation to Rwanda. The conclusion of the tour, which was also attended by the Ugandan High Commissioner to Rwanda, Richard Kabonero, took place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kigali. “Our stay in Rwanda has been so fruitful, we have learnt quite a lot of initiatives and we have seen how one can use very little resources to solve a lot of problems,” Mwanje said. Among the practices which Mwanje said they would adopt is the use of Prison Watch a soft ware programme used for information management in prisons. According to the Ugandan official, they took with them a copy of the software and would soon invite an ICT expert to install it in Ugandan prisons. “We were very impressed with the various wonderful initiatives we saw, especially the Biogas programme because this is really a cost-effective venture which we intend to implement when we go back to Uganda,” Mwanje said. He further lauded RCS for ensuring the prisons are clean and hygienic as well as being able to properly feed the large numbers of inmates, despite having limited resources. Mwanje added that the programme to help prisoners take part in income generating activities and save their earnings in bank accounts, is something he would like to explore. In an interview with The New Times, RCS boss Paul Rwarakabije said a delegation from Rwanda will soon visit Uganda to learn from their best practices. The two prisons bosses signed a work plan as well as a memorandum of understanding to guide continued cooperation that training and staff exchange programmes. steven.mugisha@newtimes.co.rw

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Ugandan prisons Service to adopt Rwandan practices