Abstract
On the basis of an ethnographic study of governance and transition in Ugandan prisons, this chapter posits that escapes offer a particular pregnant entry point for the analysis of bureaucratic precarity, its reproduction and effects. I describe and unpack a particular escape incident, which I witnessed and later followed over a couple of years during fieldwork. The chapter introduces the court setting, where the escape took place and where it had a significant afterlife as the involved staff was subsequently charged. I describe the local practices of ‘linking’ and ‘lunching’ in the court to illustrate ever-present role of intermediation in Uganda’s do-it-yourself bureaucracy and the entanglement of staff and prisoner lives and roles. In conclusion, I consequently argue that the escape event shows how everyday life in this penal bureaucracy is at once volatile and violative and inherently precarious – not only for prisoners, but also for the staff.
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Notes
- 1.
This chapter is based on seven months of fieldwork in Ugandan prisons in 2009, 2010 and 2012. Observations of everyday prison practices and open-ended interviews with prisoners, staff and other prison stakeholders were conducted freely and extensively. Informants were selected based on their role and functions in the prison system and their involvement in specific cases that unfolded during fieldwork . All names are pseudonyms and ranks and places and dates of interviews and observations are not disclosed in order to protect the informants’ anonymity.
- 2.
The court retains the discretion not to grant detained suspects bail, if it is considered unreasonable to release them, but the grounds have to be serious (tampering with the investigation, intimidating witnesses, former records of jumping bail, etc.).
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Martin, T.M. (2018). Chapter 9 The Tricky Escape from Kizoti Court: Entanglement, Precarity and Ugandan Prison Staff. In: Martin, T., Chantraine, G. (eds) Prison Breaks. Palgrave Studies in Prisons and Penology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64358-8_10
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