The argument is that the usefulness of punishment and prison to the colonial administration was in their ability to subdue, control and exploit the African subjects’ labour to meet colonial political and economic needs. Colonial prisons were means to repress the subjects and freely exploit their labour. Foucault (1977) believes that: ‘Prisons do not diminish the crime rate: they can be extended, multiplied or transformed, the quantity of crime and criminals remains stable or, worse, increases’ (Foucault 1977: 265). Similarly, colonial prisons continued to increase and thrive. As Neveu (2007:21) asserts, prison labour is a ‘jailed resource’. Colonial prison labour was a form of institutionalized modern slavery under the colonial economy and a resource used for the economic and political interest of the colonial administration. This is substantiated by the colonial archival prison reports.
The Increasing Role of Prison Labour
The Prisons Committee Report of 1936 recommended a policy shift towards explicit promotion of prison labour, arguing that manual labour would lay the foundation for ‘good citizenship’, where ‘good citizenship’ meant ‘modern, economically productive and disciplined colonial subjects.’ Industrial training workshops increased and became Prison Industries, providing revenue to the colonial government. Prison farms had existed earlier but became stand-alone enterprises during World War II (Bruce-Lockhart 2022: 60). Long-termers of one or two convictions were sent to the prison farm.
The entrance of Uganda into the global economy, increased the significance of prison labour in the national and international economy. Prison labour was important for the post-war recovery as demand for raw materials increased in the metropole, putting pressure on the colonial governments to increase production to meet the growing demand for raw materials and goods back home in Europe. The district prisons accommodated short-termers to whom only limited reformatory measures could be applied. These included brick-laying, making handicrafts and furniture and providing labour in public works to meet colonial revenue and labour needs (Uganda Protectorate 1944).
The prison record for 1947 indicated the Lugbara committed to Luzira Central prison formed the third highest population of 165 prisoners. Baganda convicts were 615 and Batoro were 231. The same year Arua District prison received 326 committals, the fifth highest figure in the Protectorate with daily average prison population convicted and remanded standing at eighty-six (Uganda Protectorate 1948: 6, 20, 21). In 1948, the number of Lugbara committed dropped to 130 (Uganda Protectorate 1949:7).
In-mates in Arua Prison were transferred to provide labour on prison farms at Ope nzinzi in Adjumani and Ragem in Junam. Apart from growing cotton, the two prison farms produced food crops to support other prisons, especially Luzira prison which had specialized in prison industry characterized with an assorted economic activity. Similarly, the prison farms in the West Nile District produced cotton for export.
Summing up the character of the Ugandan prison system during the colonial period, Bruce-Lockhart writes: