Construction of the largest prisoner prison in Uganda has been completed.
According to Dr. Johnson Byabashaija the commissioner general of Prisons, the facility situated about 55 kilometers northwest of Kampala, sitting on 5- acres of land in Wakiso District, is now ready to receive inmates.
Named Kitalya Mini-Max Prison, the Shs25 billion state of the art facility was funded by the Justice, Law and Order Sector (JLOS) and constructed by Ambitious Construction Company Limited.
It was built with large sized prison wards and 30 cells all fitted with modern sanitary facilities. It has a fully-fledged medical wing with an in-patient section, a contact visitors’ room and isolation rooms for contagious diseases, plus a kitchen equipped with power-saving technology.
The facility also has classroom blocks equipped with a computer lab and library, a large workshop block specifically designed and built for prison industry activities, fully-fledged sports facilities including a football pitch, a volleyball court, a basketball court and lawn tennis court in addition to a multipurpose hall.
Its completion is expected to decongest Luzira upper prison, which is chocking with more than 3,000 inmates, five times above its holding capacity of 600 inmates. Dr Byabashaija observed that Kitalya Mini-Max prison is a game-changer in the war against prison congestion.
“Mini-Max can accomodate 10,000 inmates and some space remains” Mr Byabashaija said.
Mr Julius Arnold Tayebwa, a Senior Civil Engineer who has been heading the contact management team from the ministry of works and transport said that everything has been built to required standards.
“Kitalya is considered a no escape facility with over six layers of security, which include among others multiple watchtowers, over 100 CCTV camera points and a control room with 24-hour onsite and offsite surveillance,” he said.
