Leave of Absence

Sir Gibbs said this in court after the Bomana Jail Commander, Haraha Kiddy Keko, appeared before him to explain why certain prisoners were granted extended leave of absence periods and were serving the terms in hospitals and in tertiary institutions.

“Many people will regard this as unfair. The little people are serving time while the big people are doing that. Any prisoner should be treated the same. There is no special provision under law,” said Sir Gibbs.

“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.

In a statement released by Correctional Service Commissioner, Michael Waipo stated that failure to monitor and supervise detainees on LOAs falls on the Commanding Officers, Manager Operations, and Duty Officers.

Waipo issued the following Instructions to effect the Prime Minister's decisions for Commanding Officers to;

1.            Stop issuing LOAs to any detainee;

2.            Compile reports on all LOAs issued last year;

3.            Detainees on medical LOA must be returned to CS institutions;

The prisoners’ Leave of Absence (LOA) is guarded by the provisions of Section 101 of the Correctional Service Act which allows an inmate to take leave from the institution for any one particular reason.

This means taking a LOA for any particular needs as and when they have them, especially for medical reasons.

Correctional Service Commissioner, Michael Waipo, made this clarification in response to a media report today about convicted prisoners being seen around walking freely in the city.