By Raymond Baguma
THE British government, through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, has donated $400,000, (about sh800m) to rehabilitate Luzira Prison.

Renovation will be done on the administrative block at the women’s section, the women’s clinic, water and sanitation systems and several accommodation blocks.

The work, which will last for six months, will also include construction of a new women’s ward, and installation of a new boiler in the upper prison kitchen, which feeds more than 2,000 prisoners.

The Prisons chief, Dr Johnson Byabashaija and British High Commissioner Martin Shearman visited the prison on Wednesday and unveiled a plaque commemorating the assistance from the UK government to the Uganda Prisons service.

“We are going to increase the prison’s capacity to accommodate more inmates,” Byabashaija said.

He described the support as timely, saying the prison was going to receive about 45 Ugandan inmates from UK jails soon.

In June, Uganda and the UK signed a prisoners transfer agreement that provides for the repatriation of Ugandan prisoners in the UK and vice- versa.

However, Shearman said there was no specific date set for the transfer of the prisoners.

The prison accommodates 2,300 male inmates and 282 females.