‘Feeding inmates costly’
Sep 21, 2003
The Minister for Gender, Labour and Social Development, Zoe Bakoko Bakoru, has said it is irrational to imprison a person for failure to pay graduated tax because the costs of feeding inmates are very high
The Minister for Gender, Labour and Social Development, Zoe Bakoko Bakoru, has said it is irrational to imprison a person for failure to pay graduated tax because the costs of feeding inmates are very high reports, Nelson Wesonga.
“It is clear from experience in running our remand homes that each inmate takes about sh70, 000 per month on feeding alone,†Bakoko said.
She said this in a speech read by the youth and children affairs commissioner, Willy Otim, recently, at a workshop for district probation officers at Joka’s Hotel in Bweyogerere.
Bakoko said the country’s prisons currently accommodate about 16,000 inmates, which is twice the number they were meant for.
She said hardly any prison in Uganda currently has separate provisions for hardcore criminals and petty offenders, hence promoting the learning of more criminal activities while in jail.
She said community service would save the Government from spending a lot of money on prisoners.
She said it would benefit both the community and offenders.
“It will avail offenders an opportunity to do productive work for the community and at the same time, preserve the offenders’ families,†she said.
Bakoko said research had shown that people sentenced to community service were less likely to commit more crimes at the end of their sentence, compared to those sent to prison.
She said, “Being a new programme in our country, community service may present some challenges and we must be prepared to deal with them.â€
“It is clear from experience in running our remand homes that each inmate takes about sh70, 000 per month on feeding alone,†Bakoko said.
She said this in a speech read by the youth and children affairs commissioner, Willy Otim, recently, at a workshop for district probation officers at Joka’s Hotel in Bweyogerere.
Bakoko said the country’s prisons currently accommodate about 16,000 inmates, which is twice the number they were meant for.
She said hardly any prison in Uganda currently has separate provisions for hardcore criminals and petty offenders, hence promoting the learning of more criminal activities while in jail.
She said community service would save the Government from spending a lot of money on prisoners.
She said it would benefit both the community and offenders.
“It will avail offenders an opportunity to do productive work for the community and at the same time, preserve the offenders’ families,†she said.
Bakoko said research had shown that people sentenced to community service were less likely to commit more crimes at the end of their sentence, compared to those sent to prison.
She said, “Being a new programme in our country, community service may present some challenges and we must be prepared to deal with them.â€