The speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga has directed the House Committee on Human Rights to visit the Kitalya prison to find out the status of the prisoners at the facility.
The speaker’s remarks come after Mityana Municipality legislator Francis Zaake informed Parliament on Tuesday that some NUP members are being tortured and most denied access to medical care at the facility. The speaker’s call also comes a few days after Kawempe North MP-elect, Mohammed Ssegirinya was admitted to hospital after being granted bail from the facility where he was detained for holding an unlawful procession.
Zaake told Parliament that on Monday this week, he accessed Kitalya Prison, only to find out that the majority of the prisoners at the facility are living in sorry conditions and had been denied access to medication.
“I was finally granted access after a long time of being stopped from accessing the facility. I found many people experiencing abdominal pains, they are poorly fed on half-cooked posho and the hygiene is also a disaster,” he said.
The Mityana legislator added that most of the inmates who fall sick are forced to take over the counter painkillers with total disregard of what they are suffering from.
Speaker Kadaga who was charing the session ordered that the human rights committee of Parliament investigate the matter and come up with a report.
“We want a report as soon as possible. I hereby direct the committee (of human rights) to investigate the matter,” Kadaga said.
It is not the first time that Parliament is questioning the Government’s prison facilities after coming out on the Nalufenya prison.
