Col Kizza Besigye’s aide Sam Mugumya who has been incarcerated in Ndolo Prison in Democratic Republic of Congo- DRC for close to a decade is among the 147 inmates who tested positive for deadly Coronavirus.
Mugumya was tested Tuesday by health officials.
According to a source in Ndolo Prison where Mugumya has been serving for almost 5 years, said Mugumya is now in quarantine in the same facility but the challenge is congestion of patients.
“The isolation cell is supposed to accommodate 40 patients. But they are 147 as of now,” a source said.
No official in Ndolo Prison was willing to discuss Mugumya’s health status by press time.
DRC has since confirmed 1834 cases of Coronavirus, 302 have recovered and 61 died.
Reports emerging from DRC have indicated that overcrowding prisons is ‘ticking time-bomb’ for COVID-19 pandemic.
“DRC’s main prisons are filled at 432 percent on average, making them some of the most overcrowded in the world,” reports Aljazeera.com.
for example, Muzenze prison in Goma was built for 150 prisoners but contains more than 2000 inmates.
Ugandan legislators have asked the government to negotiate the extradition of Ugandans stuck in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) prisons following the outbreak of coronavirus.
Apparently 124 Ugandans have been held in Ndolo Prisons without being taken to Court.
The Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga asked the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Justice to work out a plan on the matter in two weeks.
DRC has to date reportedly released 1,200 prisoners in a bid to decongest the prisons in the country.
Mugumya, an Opposition activist, was arrested in Democratic Republic of Congo in October 2014.
Mugumya, a Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party member was arrested, together with Aggrey Kamukama, Steven Mugisha, Nathan Bright and Joseph Kamugisha.
Government then said they would not be extradited back to Uganda, accusing them of engaging in subversive activities having been found with dollars and sensitive documents.
State minister for Foreign Affairs Henry Oryem Okello told Parliament then that due to lack of an extradition treaty between Uganda and Congo, the DR government declined to send him back and that he would stand trial.
