A total of seven out of the 219 prisoners who escaped from Moroto prison have been re-arrested, the Uganda Prisons confirmed the development today.
The incident is reported to have happened at about 4:00 pm on September 16, 2020 where inmates overpowered prison warders at Singila prison in Moroto District, broke into the armoury and took off with 15 guns and ran towards Mt. Moroto.
According to Frank Baine, the prisons spokesperson, the majority of the escapees from Moroto Prison are cattle raiders.
He said 219 prisoners escaped, seven were recaptured and two were put out of action.
“They overpowered the gatekeeper and headed for the armoury. Karamoja is not an easy place to operate. The Karamojong are very well coordinated. Once they get an opportunity, they grab it,” he said.
He said escapees are struggling to escape to Kenya noting that there must have been some human error in managing the gate.
One soldier was killed in the fire exchange between security forces and the escapees.
“Three were killed during the pursuit whereas seven have been re-arrested and returned to prison,” Baine said on Thursday morning.
The prison holds more than 2000 inmates including those serving long sentences on serious and capital offences.
Moroto is no stranger to such events, in March 2008, seven prisoners were shot at and injured after a daring attempt of escaping from Prison.
The group had been 12 in number before 8 were shot in the escape attempt.
