The Inspector General of Police, Okoth Martins Ochola has confirmed that he is set to approve the closure of Nalufenya detention facility in Jinja district.
Ochola told the committee of Parliament on Wednesday that he is awaiting documentation from the legal directorate of Police to authorize the shut down of Nalufenya.
“The Director Legal Services is drafting for me an order to close Nalufenya and any time from now I will be signing,” Ochola told legislators when asked about the plans for the infamous facility.
He was responding to Butambala County MP, Muwanga Kivumbi who tasked him to explain the status of the Nalufenya.
The Police Chief was appearing before Parliament committee on Defence and Internal Affairs to defend the Shs 630 billion Police budget.
The reports about the closure of Nalufenya first emerged shortly after the sacking of the former IGP, Gen Kale Kayihura who was replaced by Ochola.
Last month, a Police Advisory Committee meeting reportedly reached a decision to shut down the facility which during Kayihura’s tenure was widely labeled a torture chamber. Several of the suspects who had been detained at Nalufenya said that they had been subjected to acts of torture.