A total of 48 inmates have been confirmed into the Anglican Church at Kirinya Prisons in Jinja.

The confirmation was during a pastoral visit by Busoga Diocese bishop the Rev. Dr. Paul Samson Naimanhye to the facility on Thursday.

Naimanhye said they deemed it fit to visit the prisoners and feed them spiritually.

Moses Kuboi (right), the Jinja district prisons commander and the officer in charge of the Jinja main prisons worshiping as his counterparts danced to his tunes.

Moses Kuboi, the Jinja district prisons commander and the officer in charge of the Jinja main prisons who received Naimanhye and his team, said they were yearning for the revival of their church inside the facility which had collapsed following the COVID-19 outbreak.

Since guidelines restricted social gatherings, Kuboi said their St Paul Chapel had gone into tatters until one of their staff proposed the need for its revival.

“A month ago, one of our staff decided that we should serve the Lord again and here we are,” Kuboi said.

The church is hosted in one of the buildings within Kirinya complex under the St James archdeaconry in Jinja district.

Kuboi said the Church of Uganda had revived drastically at the facility with the deployment of a chaplain, Stephen Wanyagira who was at the helm.

He said the team found them when they were tattered, but kept making them firm and this inspired them to reclaim their church back.

During rainy seasons, Kuboi said the road to the facility tends to be impassable but this doesn’t stop Wanyagira with his evangelism.

He said the revival of their church saw the 48 baptised before their eventual confirmation.

Kuboi said the confirmants were drawn from within the three entities of the Jinja main, remand and women prisons and implored to stick to the Bible teachings by remaining resilient.

Jackson Ochwoo, the LC1 chairperson of Kirinya village, said plans were underway to build their permanent church within the premises away from using the prison structures.

Meanwhile, Naimanhye, flanked by his wife Lydia, preached love and forgiveness to the inmates.

He urged them to keep in faith and remain hopeful as this was not their last destination, but their gates would once be open and come out of jail.

Otin Odera, the deputy officer in charge of Jinja prisons, said this was her first time seeing a bishop visiting jails and confirming inmates.