Internal Affairs Minister Maj Gen. Otafire Kahinda wants the Uganda Prisons Service to make garments for both the Uganda Peoples Defense Forces and Uganda Police Force.
Otafire made the remarks while commissioning the new garment workshop machinery at Kitalya Mini Max Prison.
According to the Commissioner in charge of Prison Industries Robert Munanura the new equipment will be used to train inmates in the craft of tailoring, cloth making and stitching of all staff and prisoners’ uniforms.
Munanura said that the garment machinery is a springboard into the competitive, modern mass production of quality garments where they shall be able to make their own uniforms and progressively venture into commercial enterprise and make garments for other institutions.
It’s on the basis of this that Gen Otafire said that all the armed forces should assign the docket of making uniforms to Uganda Prisons because they have the manpower to cloth them.
Currently, the Police uniforms are made by the Police Garment Factory on Jinja Road jointly with private suppliers however, in December last year, the Police Garment factory was razed by a fire.
Dr Byabashaija commended President Museveni for ensuring that Uganda Prisons have a budget to revive its own industries and asked the minister to support him to raise their budget with 32 billion Shillings which they have requested to be spent over five years to establish the required capacity in garment making and agriculture among other establishments.
