Police on Spot over sharing cells by women & men!

The Public Accounts Committee has criticized Uganda Police for the deplorable & inhumane living conditions suspects under detention are living, after the Auditor General revealed that many police stations are forcing women, men and children to use buckets as toilets, while sharing the same cells.

In the December 2023 Auditor General’s report, it was noted that out of the 72 sampled station across Uganda, only 11 stations had separate cells for the women, children and men, & with Police revealing that Uganda has 2,131 Police stations, the MPs argued that the results from the samples taken by the auditors indicated that the problem is highly pronounced.

Sarah Opendi Tororo District Woman MP described the current conditions as unacceptable saying the sharing of cells among men, women and children could exacerbate the issue of domestic violence in case some of the women leave cells while pregnant.

Sarah Opendi speaking during Committee meeting

“I find this unacceptable considering that Police has a construction unit and if it really looks at this as an issue, it would definitely construct those structures however small they may be. It is really a shame that in this era when the population of Uganda has greatly increased, out of the sample, 11 facilities don’t have various cells for the women, men and children. Maybe we can start with you, we hold you today in one cell, men and women so that you experience it. Some people may leave the cells pregnant and you are actually causing domestic violence,” said Opendi.

Ugandans have always expressed concern over the poor conditions in our police cells which includes congestion among others