After waiting for five years to be hanged, a prisoner...

After waiting for five years to be hanged, a prisoner on death row in Luzira Upper Prison committed suicide by hanging himself. Abubakar Kavumba, who was sentenced to death by the High Court in 1997, was found hanging on an iron bar in one of the corridors of the sickbay section of the prison. The assistant commissioner of Prisons in charge of prisoners, J. W Kururagire said that Kavumba used his shirt, which he tore and knotted, to hang himself. He said Kavumba had been taken to the sickbay for treatment and was admitted to one of the wards on the recommendation of a doctor. Kururagire said prisoners admitted to the sick bay are normally guarded and stay with other inmates."I believe he used the corridor because it is deserted at night and it leads to the toilet. It is rare to suspect someone going to the toilet of committing suicide," he said. The officer in-charge of Luzira Upper Prison, Henry Tugume, said before his death, Kavumba had filed an application with the Supreme Court appealing against the death sentence. "He has been with us for over five years. One would not suspect him of committing suicide," Tugume said.