China to execute Ugandans over drug offence

Ugan­dans de­tained in China on drug re­lated cases risk fac­ing ex­e­cu­tion in line with Chi­nese laws af­ter gov­ern­ment ef­forts to have them de­ported back home became unsuccessful.

While ap­pear­ing be­fore the For­eign Af­fairs Com­mit­tee of Par­lia­ment on Tuesday, Hon Sam Ku­teesa the For­eign Affairs Min­is­ter said that government is still ne­go­ti­at­ing to have the Ugan­dans serve their sen­tences at home.
“We have appealed to China to have our cit­i­zens come and serve their sen­tences at home but the challenge is that they do not trust our ju­di­cial sys­tem,” Ku­teesa said.

The Min­is­ter also told the com­mit­tee that China treats drug traf­fick­ing as a se­ri­ous of­fence, pun­ish­able by death and as thus, the au­thor­i­ties feared to let any con­victs be taken out of the coun­try.

Min­is­ter Ku­teesa’s sub­mis­sion fol­lowed con­cerns raise by Mbale Mu­nic­i­pal­ity MP Jack Wa­manga Wa­mai and Kawempe North’s La­teef Sse­bag­gala.

The law­mak­ers wanted him to ex­plain gov­ern­ment ef­forts in sav­ing the con­victed na­tion­als from death. Ac­cord­ing to a 2016 re­port, Uganda has about 120 cit­i­zens in Chi­na’s pris­ons cells out and 73 are on death row.