President Museveni has in exercise of the powers given to the president of Uganda by the constitution pardoned former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Public Service, Jimmy Lwamafa who has been serving a seven year jail term over the pension scam.

Uganda Prisons spokesperson, Frank Baine on Monday said Lwamafa was among the 200 beneficiaries of the presidential pardon that was submitted to the president by the prerogative of mercy committee.

"He falls among three categories of those pardoned. He is among the elderly and has not been so well but most importantly, he had also put his life to work for this country for many years and on humanitarian grounds he qualified for pardon," Baine said.

Lwamafa was sentenced together with Christopher Obey, the former Principal Accountant in the Pensions Department, Stephen Kiwanuka Kunsa, the former Director Research and Development and city lawyer Bob Kasango who had earlier been convicted of a number of charges ranging from conspiracy to defraud, conspiracy to commit a felony and forgery of judicial documents by the Anti Corruption Court.

He was also asked to refund some of the money.

Other prisoners

According to the prisons spokesperson, the president also pardoned 199 other prisoners who were part of the group of 1800 names sent by prisons to the prerogative of mercy committee for pardon.

Baine said the list of 1800 submitted in June had petty offenders who have finished more than 50% of their service, all those on death row and have concluded their appeal process, the elderly, convicts who have finished more than three quarters of their sentence, suckling mothers and pregnant women who are pretty offenders and have finished more than a quarter of their sentence.

"Those whose names submitted also include the terminally ill and all capital offenders who are remaining with six months to their sentences," Baine noted.

He welcomed the pardon that he said will help decongest the prisons facilities.