The Presidential pardon towards prisoners through the prerogative of mercy committee is yet to release about 600 prisoners who qualify for clemency.
According to the Uganda Prisons Service spokesman Frank Baine, in October the prisons submitted a list of about 600 prisoners to be considered for the pardon that usually takes place before Christmas, but they are yet to get a response.
He explains that those who qualify for the pardon include the elderly above 54 years, pregnant and suckling women as well as capital offenders who remain with less than six months on their sentences.
He says that 478 prisoners were set free last year.
Baine is however optimistic that the prisoners may be set free early next year because all those submitted fulfill the necessary requirements for the pardon.
iCue in: We submitted the names#i
iCue out: # may be January or Feb.i
Before the President pardons an inmate, a Committee of Prerogative of Mercy, composed of 12 members, meets and submits the names of those seeking presidential pardon.
The committee which is headed by the Chief Justice is charged with the responsibility of processing a report composed of facts of the case and why the inmate should be considered for clemency.
Upon receiving the report and the names of inmates seeking pardon, the President may then exercise his right of pardoning any inmate.
The last inmate who benefited from such a presidential pardon was Abdullah Nasur, who was convicted for the murder of a Masaka mayor in 1972 in the late Idi Amin's regime who was released in 2001 after 22 years on death row.
