Murchison Bay Maximum Security Prison Luzira has faced dark nights for a week now after electricity was disconnected by UMEME over an unpaid Shs6bn bill.
According to the prison authorities, this state threatens the effective performance of their duties especially the concern of stopping prisoners from escaping.
“The prison has been without power for a week now. This has put the prison management operations in danger. Several security installations including the escape alarms cannot work without power,” said Frank Baine, the Luzira prison spokesperson.
“This situation poses a danger because inmates can plan to escape and even outside forces who might want to rescue a prisoner,” Baine said.
“You cannot know who is threatening to break out or to break in. The alarms will not warn us,” he said.
However, Baine added that despite the current state, no major incident has happened.
“We have increased vigilance,” he said.
Baine appealed to government to clear the bill so that the prison with the highest profile inmates in the country can function normally.
Luzira is the biggest maximum prison in the country housing close to 8,000 inmates (men and women), a figure that is more than four times the 1,700 it was meant to house.