My pardon was a surprise – Chandi Jamwa

On Thursday morning January 18, 2024, former National Social Security Fund (NSSF) managing director, David Chandi Jamwa, walked to his freedom through the wide gates of Luzira Prison.
 
Clad in a blue polo T-shirt and a pair of jeans, a smiling Jamwa walked in front of his mother, Tezra Jamwa and another male relative.
 
This was a surprise, he said.
 
Jamwa said the jail experience was humbling, adding that the prerogative mercy is good for character building and that it gives one an opportunity to change their lives for the better.

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“It came as a surprise, once I found out that the prerogative of mercy had been exercised, we could only thank God, it’s a good for character building, it is an experience that changes you for the better, I thank God for keeping me alive and the staff for looking after me,” Jamwa said.
 
President Yoweri Museveni pardoned Jamwa who was in prison for causing a financial loss of sh3b while still managing director at NSSF.
 
Beaming with a smile, Jamwa’s mother thanked President Museveni for pardoning her son.
 
Jamwa who has been serving a 12-year sentence for causing a financial loss of sh3b to NSSF, was pardoned alongside 11 other prisons, under the Presidential prerogative of mercy.
 
The Prison Service Spokesperson, Frank Baine, said that the prerogative of mercy is given to a prisoner on grounds of good character while in prison, ill health and old age among others.
 
The prerogative of mercy is provided for under Article 121 of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda which also allows for the creation of an Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy.

The President may, on advice of the Committee, grant a person a respite, either indefinite or for a specified period from the execution of punishment imposed on him or her for an offence.