Hope Mafaranga

INMATES living with HIV/AIDS in Mubuku government prison in Kasese district have asked the Government to improve the conditions of work at the prison. The inmates, who were meeting members of the Judicial Service Commission recently at the prison, said the prison officials subject them to long hours of work and stigmatise them. Patrick Businge, one of the inmates living with HIV, said inmates on ARVs were too weak to dig, especially under the scorching sun. “When one of us (HIV-positive inmates) asks for permission not to go to the garden, the officers tell us that we are responsible for our status since we looked for the disease. We work like others who are not sick,” Businge said. The inmates also reported that their diet was poor which subjected them to opportunistic infections. Alfred Kisobole said that doctors advised them to drink boiled water, eat greens, fruits and have enough rest, which are all not provided in prison. “We are at the edge of our graves.