The army and police forces are not about to get tired of hunting for the 293 prisoners who escaped from Moroto government prisons last year. The 293 broke out of jail in November last year after overpowering prison staff and accessing the armoury where they made off with 15 guns and 480 rounds of ammunition.
Addressing the media on the general security situation of Karamoja in Moroto police barracks early this week, Michael Longole, the Karamoja Regional Spokesperson said that so far they have managed to re arrest 89 escapes and recovered 5 guns.
“We have managed to re arrest 89 prison escapees including their master planer and 5 guns. We are still hunting for the remaining prisoners,” he said.
He says that the guns were being used to terrorize people in Moroto municipality, adding that ever since they arrested some of the escapees who are now facing double charges, the town has become peaceful.
He says that they re-arrested the former inmates and recovered the firearms with the help of concerned residents who felt insecure to hide the wanted persons in their community. “Some of these people we pick them after getting calls from concerned community members,” he said.
Newsmen have learnt that the escape of the prisoners forced Uganda prisons to improve security around the facility, deploy additional manpower and construct a high surveillance house where prison warders monitor the inmates. The prison also now has CCTV cameras, which are used to monitor the entire facility. Simon Kotol, one of the concerned residents, says that everything happens with a purpose.
“Imagine if the prisoners had not escaped, Moroto prisons would have remained in the same poor state,” he said. According to Kotol, the fence in the prison has been reworked. He says that there are also restrictions on visitors to the facility.
Betty Nakiru, another resident said they will be at peace when all the 10 remaining guns are recovered.
