Mid last month, Uganda Prisons Services deployed 1000 of its officers to assist in the distribution of relief items to the vulnerable people affected by COVID-19 in Kampala and Wakiso districts.
Government beefed up manpower following confessions from entities in charge of disaster preparedness that the exercise had been faced labour challenge since the army- LDU and Police were overwhelmed and therefore couldn’t swiftly respond to the dire need and the vulnerable poor living in Kampala and Wakiso risked starving to death.
Government decided to assist these people following a lockdown implemented by the President as an urgent measure to mitigate the spread of Coronavirus.
“This challenge of manpower has been sorted because Uganda Prisons has offered us 1000 personnel who will help the LDUs in distributing food,” State Minister for Disaster Preparedness Musa Ecweru confessed.
Whereas the food distribution taskforce had planned to coordinate with the local leadership (LC1), there was inefficiency in the whole exercise as vulnerable communities raised concerns as to why food was not reaching them.
The targeted first phase of intervention was 2 million people, but until Uganda Prisons stepped in, only 30000 people have been catered for.
Rescue
Uganda Prisons Services dispatched 1000 men to beef up the other security agencies and swiftly distribute food to the people.
The prisons team comprised the head of mission CP Frank Baine who is also the the spokesperson, the field commander ACP Apollo Bakwate, transport officer ASP Yusuf Mukembo and store man Chief Warder class 1 Apangu
The team was also beefed up with 5 squad commanders at the rank of ASP with their five assistants to oversee the five divisions of Kampala with 200 officers per division.
The five divisions of Kampala include; Makindye, Nakawa, Rubaga, Kawempe and Kiira.
The transport officer Mr Mukembo coordinated the government fleet distributing food while the store man Apangu was tasked to manage the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) stores in Nakawa where relief food is kept.
According to an official in the distribution taskforce, before prisons intervened the whole process lacked coordination right from the source (stores) up to destination (beneficiaries).
But the prisons team brought in the ‘x-factor’ since it has been in management of inmates for a long time and therefore they considered the urgency and the emergency which expedited the process.
“Uganda Prisons simply added order in whatever we were doing,” said a taskforce official.
For example, the fleet manager (transport office) ASP Mukembo coordinated which cars must take which routes first in Kampala and how many pickups must move with a huge truck for distribution and how many officers must be handling each car. That eased the process.
“I can tell you we were disorganized imagine we didn’t have someone at the store taking record of what was entering and exiting. So how do you manage such distribution activity without records,” another official wondered.
The prison’s officer Apangu at the store, this website understands had to first record the quantities of food he would take charge of before allowing any distribution to take place. Knowing the numbers made easier the distribution activity.
After a month, the distribution taskforce has announced that all the needy people in Kampala have been given food and it is time to shift to Wakiso and other surrounding areas.
The officials predict that had it not been the intervention of Uganda Prisons, the process would still be sluggish.
Ugandan Prisons has been one of the few establishments in the country with efficient systems and scandal free.
Uganda Prisons is led by Commissioner General Johnson Byabashaja.
