Uganda’s president may resume the death sentence to stem crime wave
Kampala — Ugandan leader Yoweri Museveni may resume signing off on death sentences after a long hiatus to help stem a wave of crime, he said on Twitter in comments that were quickly denounced by rights activists opposed to capital punishment. Death remains the maximum sentence in Uganda for a range of crimes including murder, treason and defilement, but no executions have taken place since 1999. A prisons service spokesman said there are currently 278 inmates on death row. In a tweet on Thursday, Museveni, who has been in power since 1986, said he had been reluctant to sign off on death sentences because of his "Christian background". "But being lenient is causing people to think they can cause harm and get away with it. I will revise my position," he said. Ugandans have complained of a surge in crime in recent years, especially around the capital Kampala in central Uganda. A series of gruesome but still unsolved murders, last year, of women whose bodies were dumped on roadsides in ...
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