Conmen selling presidential pardon

 By Andante Okanya

Uganda Prisons Service (UPS) has said a group of con artists are tricking the public into believing that the presidential pardon for inmates is for sale.

UPS spokesperson Frank Baine said several complainants had petitioned the Prisons management, saying they had been asked to part with money in exchange for freedom of their jailed relatives.

"People have called us saying they are receiving telephone calls that they should pay money so that their jailed family members are released. We have warned them not to fall victim because this exercise is free of charge. It is a presidential pardon," said Baine.

He made the remarks while addressing the press at the joint security press briefing at Uganda Media Centre in Kampala yesterday.

Baine emphasised that President Yoweri Museveni pardoned 4,000 people, who had been arrested for mostly COVID-19-related security breaches. He said most of these had been freed, save for about 700 who are on the verge of freedom, as their documentation is being finalised.

EU, UN, NETHERLANDS GIVE SH1.2B

Baine also disclosed that UPS on Tuesday received goods and equipment worth sh1.2b from the European Union, The Netherlands embassy, and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

The items include 40 beds, 40 mattresses, 80 blankets and 80 bedsheets, five sets of video conferencing equipment, and 32 mobile phone handsets.

Others are 16 water tanks of 5,000-litre capacity each, 2001 hand sanitisers, 3,750 bars of soap and soccer balls.

"The items were received by the commissioner general and are being prepared for dispatch to our five regional centres at Gulu, Arua, Mbale, Jinja, and Mbarara," Baine said.

BACKGROUND CHECKS ON WORKERS

Police spokesperson Fred Enanga encouraged employers to scrutinise persons before confirming employment.

Enanga made the observation, against the backdrop of Tuesday's gruesome events in Kyankwanzi district, where Rwandan farm worker Emmanuel Twagirayezu hacked and maimed eight people.

"We urge employers to do background checks on people they employ. If the owner of the farm Alfred Mushabe had done so, perhaps we would not have had this incident," said Enanga.