Nearly two decades after Uganda first conceived plans to relocate Luzira Maximum Security Prison, the proposed project remains largely on paper, exposing a difficult intersection of prison overcrowding, public investment, human rights and the commercial value of public land.
Dr Johnson Omuhunde Rwashote Byabashaija, Commissioner General of the Uganda Prisons Service (UPS), has told Parliament that the proposed relocation is still only a concept, awaiting an investor with the financial capacity to undertake the estimated Shs934 billion project.
The revelation raises fresh questions about why a project first conceived in 2008 has survived presidential endorsements, parliamentary discussions and repeated government announcements without reaching implementation.
“The relocation of Luzira is something we would have done 20 years ago,” Byabashaija previously told legislators, explaining that the facility was originally constructed outside Kampala but has since been engulfed by the rapidly expanding city.
For Parliament’s Defence and Internal Affairs Committee, which is scrutinising the Uganda Prisons Service alongside the Uganda Police Force over congestion, hygiene, human rights and compliance with the law, the Luzira question is no longer simply about an old prison occupying valuable land.
Luzira Group of Prisons, whose facilities date largely to the 1920s, was designed for a fraction of the population it now accommodates. Government figures presented to Parliament in 2024 put the inmate population at 8,790 inmates, against a designated capacity of about 1,923. That translates into occupancy of more than four times the intended capacity, with ten prisoners squeezed in space meant for two.
As of March 2026, Uganda’s prisons were reported to be holding more than 80,000 inmates against an official capacity of about 23,104, equivalent to roughly 345 percent occupancy.
That means Luzira’s is not an isolated infrastructure problem. It is a symptom of a correctional system struggling to keep pace with the growth of the prison population. Lawmakers have previously questioned whether Uganda should be concentrating primarily on constructing more prisons instead of reducing the number of people entering and remaining in custody.
Government has effectively presented Parliament with competing options. One is to renovate and expand the existing Luzira facility, estimated at about Shs400 billion.The other is to relocate the prison, with the estimated cost rising to approximately Shs934 billion under an investor-led arrangement. The proposed relocation would involve developing a new facility on about 640 acres in Buikwe District, while freeing the prime Luzira site for alternative development. Government’s argument is that relocating the maximum-security facility would provide a purpose-built correctional complex while unlocking the economic value of strategically located land in Kampala.
Luzira sits on a substantial parcel of located land in Kampala. Earlier government proposals envisaged relocating the prison to Buikwe and releasing the Luzira site for commercial redevelopment. Reports have previously indicated that about 640 acres were being considered in Buikwe for the new facility, while the existing Luzira site covers roughly 276 acres.
The Prisons Act, 2006 states that the main objective of the Uganda Prisons Service is to provide reasonable, safe, secure and humane custody and rehabilitation of offenders in accordance with universally accepted standards. It must ensure proper living conditions for prisoners.
Article 24 prohibits torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, while Article 44 makes freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment non-derogable. Uganda subsequently enacted the Prevention and Prohibition of Torture Act, 2012, partly to give effect to those constitutional protections.
Internationally, Uganda’s correctional obligations can also be assessed against the United Nations Nelson Mandela Rules, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2015 as revised standards for the humane treatment of prisoners. The rules address accommodation, sanitation, healthcare, ventilation, hygiene and other aspects of prison management.
Byabashaija has said that the Prisons Service developed a relocation concept in 2008 and even engaged a Dubai-based contractor, with a memorandum of understanding signed before the initiative stalled. Nearly two decades later, Uganda is still discussing the same relocation.
For MPs such as Kalungu West’s Joseph Ssewungu, the debate also touches on the country’s “broader approach to law and order and the management of its prison population.”
According to Robina Rwakoojo, Chairperson Defense and Internal Affair Committee of Parliament, Luzira remains an uncomfortable symbol of a much larger problem and the crisis inside Uganda’s prisons. “Government must work a practical approach demonstrate that it has a durable plan for solving the crisis inside Uganda’s prisons-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
