The Uganda Prisons Service has declared a Standby Class One period for all its staff, effective from December 15, 2025 to February 15, 2026, as part of heightened security preparations ahead of the festive season and the forthcoming general elections.
In a press release issued on Tuesday, the Commissioner General of Prisons Dr. Johnson Byabashaija has directed all prison units across the country to strengthen security, intelligence gathering, and coordination with sister security and intelligence agencies during the two-month period.
According to the directive, all prison officers are required to remain fully alert and vigilant at all times, with routine patrols to be conducted both within and around prison facilities and staff barracks to prevent any security breaches.
As part of the new measures, Prisons Spokesperson Frank Baine Mayanja who signed the Press Release states that the use of hired prisoners’ labour, commonly known as kibarua, has been suspended until further notice. In addition, staff leave will be heavily restricted, with only exceptional cases to be considered.
The Uganda Prisons Service has also announced the temporary suspension of prisoners’ visitations during specific high-risk periods. Visits will not be allowed from December 24th to 27th, 2025, January 1st to 4th, 2026, and January 14th to 16th, 2026.
Furthermore, access to all prison facilities and barracks will be strictly controlled, with unauthorized persons barred from entering any prison premises during the Standby Class One period.
The Prisons leadership has also warned that any Officer in Charge who fails to fully comply with the issued guidelines will be personally held accountable for any lapses during this critical period.
Standby Class One is a formal security and operational status declared by top security leadership uniformed services, including the Uganda Prisons Service. When such a status is declared, it places the entire institution at its highest level of preparedness to respond to any threat, emergency, or unusual situation.
In this case, the Standby class one comes at the time when the nation is going to elect a new president come January 15th 2026 , barely a month from now. President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni who has been in power for nearly 40 years and is seeking another term of office is among the eight Candidates in the hotly contested race.
A new President will also be elected on the same day when the Parliamentary leaders will be equally elected country wide followed by Local Government elections such as Mayors, Councillors and District Chairpersons.
Standby Class one also comes at the time when several supporters of the opposition especially those aligning to the National Unity Platform’s Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu are in detention, majority of whom were arrested during the ongoing campaigns in various places across the country.
This will also be the third time four times Presidential Candidate Dr Kizza Besigye who was remanded by the Court Martial in November 2024 will be eating his Christmas in prison.
The Uganda People’s Defence Forces were the most recent people to put there Forces on Standby Class One. This was last done in 2022 when the then Deputy Chief of Defense Forces General Elweru put all armed forces on standby after security received allegedly wrong intelligence information on national security, when President Museveni was preparing to travel for the Commonwealth Heads of State Meeting (CHOGM) in Rwanda.
UPDF had also gone on Standby Class one again in 2020 towards the 2021 General Elections.