The continued sentencing of convicted offenders to death in Uganda has reignited debate among legal experts over whether the country’s severest punishment still serves any meaningful purpose, particularly as no execution has been carried out in nearly three decades.
Uganda Prisons Service (UPS) says it is currently holding 96 prisoners on death row, 93 men and three women, while another 289 inmates are serving life imprisonment, comprising 275 men and 14 women.
The discussion has resurfaced following the recent conviction of nine people in the kidnapping and murder of businesswoman Susan Magara. Two of the convicts, Abas Musa Buvumbo and Hajjarah Nakandi, were sentenced to death, while the remaining seven received life imprisonment for their roles in the 2018 abduction, ransom extortion, and murder. The other is Christopher Okello Onyum, who was sentenced by a mobile court.
Although courts continue to impose death sentences, Uganda has not carried out a civilian execution since 1999, when 28 inmates, including Musa Sebirumbi, were hanged at Luzira Prison. This has prompted some lawyers to question whether continuing to hand down death sentences that are rarely, if ever, enforced is compatible with justice and human dignity.
Lawyer Edias Asiimwe argues that while the death penalty remains the country’s most severe punishment for the gravest offences and symbolises society’s condemnation of serious crimes, its continued imposition without enforcement raises fundamental legal and ethical questions.
“The issue is not merely whether Uganda should execute persons sentenced to death, but whether the criminal justice system should continue to impose a punishment that, in practice, amounts to indefinite confinement under the constant possibility of execution,” Asiimwe said.
He said prolonged stays on death row subject inmates to years of uncertainty and psychological distress, making it necessary for the government to clarify the future of capital punishment.
According to Asiimwe, if executions are no longer a practical component of Uganda’s criminal justice system, there is a compelling case for reviewing whether courts should continue imposing death sentences while ensuring that inmates already on death row have their cases reconsidered in accordance with the law.
He added that an effective justice system should impose punishments that are lawful, certain, proportionate and consistent with respect for human dignity. Lawyer Simon Peter Esomu shares a similar view, describing prolonged incarceration on death row as a form of psychological torture. Esomu said prisoners live under constant uncertainty, not knowing whether they will eventually be executed, a situation he believes can be more degrading than the punishment itself.
“The longer they remain on death row, the more they are subjected to psychological pressure, pain and degrading treatment,” Esomu said. He argued that since Uganda has effectively suspended executions for decades, the country should consider abolishing the death penalty altogether and shift greater emphasis toward rehabilitation rather than retribution.
However, lawyer Jude Byamukama defended the continued imposition of death sentences, arguing that judges are constitutionally bound to apply the law as enacted by Parliament regardless of whether the Executive chooses to enforce it.
“The sentence is lawful and remains on the statute books. The decision to implement it is political. Courts are required to apply the law, not politics,” Byamukama said. He noted that the President retains the constitutional authority to sign execution warrants at any time, making it inappropriate for courts to disregard a sentence that remains legally prescribed.
Byamukama also pointed out that death sentences continue to carry legal implications beyond execution, including their effect on remission and other correctional processes. Senior Commissioner of Prisons and UPS spokesperson Frank Baine told Uganda Radio Network that only one of the 96 condemned prisoners has exhausted the entire appellate process up to the Supreme Court, while the remaining 95 prisoners are still pursuing appeals before various courts. He declined to identify the prisoner who has completed all appeals, saying he could only provide statistical information.
According to Baine, only the President has the constitutional authority to authorise an execution by signing a death warrant. Once the signed warrant reaches the Commissioner General of Prisons, the execution is carried out within 72 hours.
He noted, however, that no death warrant has been signed since 1999, effectively leaving death sentences dormant despite remaining lawful. Baine said President Yoweri Museveni has previously indicated that his Christian faith has influenced his reluctance to authorise executions.
He explained that Uganda’s administration of the death penalty changed significantly following the landmark Susan Kigula and 416 Others Constitutional Petition, in which the Constitutional Court ruled that mandatory death sentences were unconstitutional.
The decision gave judge’s discretion to impose the death penalty depending on the circumstances of each case and further held that where a condemned prisoner completes all appeals but is not executed within three years, the sentence can no longer be carried out. Instead, it is commuted to a 56-year prison term, which Baine said is treated as the equivalent of life imprisonment under that legal framework.
Baine also clarified that prisoners on death row who die from natural causes are released to relatives for burial, but those executed by hanging are buried by the Uganda Prisons Service in designated prison cemeteries, where official burial records are maintained.
He added that death sentences remain available under Ugandan law for capital offences including murder, terrorism, treason, aggravated rape and aggravated defilement, among others, where the law prescribes death as the maximum sentence-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
