Genuinely ill detainees have been hit hard with the leave of absence ban.
“Because of a few things, many innocent, genuinely sick detainees will have to face the consequences as well,” says Bomana jail commander, Haraha Keko.
Speaking to this newsroom, Keko said this is a challenge for him and his management team to address and maintain the status quo. This is to avoid complicated situations with prisoners, especially at Bomana.
Keko said they had spoken to the inmates earlier this week to help contain their anger and frustrations over the indefinite ban.
“The other day I had to stand for almost two hours to address them to cool them down,” said the commander.
Keko said he spoke to them explaining the situation of the ban and that every inmate will have to go with it as directed by the CS commissioner.
He said this is something the inmates will have to deal with and move forward.
Meanwhile, Keko assured that amidst the anger and frustration over the ban, many inmates have established an understanding and have given their word to work alongside the CS staff to serve their time.
“Until and when we can fix the situation, hopefully we can return certain things to normal for them to be granted LOA. Especially for those with medical conditions.”
Furthermore, instructions have been given to staff at the facility’s medical centre to monitor those prisoners who were brought in from the hospital and to record their situation.