Kigo inmates petition Principal Judge over plea bargain

Inmates at Kigo Prison have petitioned the Principal Judge Yorokamu Bamwine over the Judiciary's newly introduced plea bargain package as a means of conflict resolution, specifically criticizing the tone it is rendered.

The inmates complained that the judiciary plea bargain package — which includes the accused and the accuser and the state attorney sitting on roundtable and agreeing on a ‘suitable' punishment for the defendant — wasn't working for them.

Led by Muzamil Balitebya, the inmates presented a petition to the Principal Judge, lamenting the state-brief lawyers they are given who they said were not committed to them or their cases.

They disapproved the long term sentences of 100 years some of them were ‘condemned' to and the ‘torture' they suffered at police's hands during arrests.

The judiciary introduced the package to reduce their heavy backlog and to decongest prisons. But the inmates say some judges disregarded the sentences the defendant signed against (during the plea -bargain) and instead allocated to them longer sentences.

The Principal Judge, in his response, said: "In all fairness, plea-bargain is better than the full trial, because you (accused) get a chance to participate in the sentence the judge will deliver to you. It saves time and money. And generally you (accused) get a lesser sentence, but we won't let you off the hook just like that."

Inmates entertain the guests during the launch of plea bargain initiative at Kigo Prison. Photo by Mary Kansiime

"We have to be fair to the aggressed and the community. If someone has defiled a little girl, as young as three years, you don't expect to sign against two years because there is plea-bargain and expect the Judge to grant that (sentence)," Bamwine said.