The closure took effect on October 12, 2026, according to a notice signed by RCS spokesperson CSUPT Hillary Sengabo.
RCS said arrangements had been made for the transferred inmates to contact their families and inform them of their new locations.
“The management of the Rwanda Correctional Service (RCS) informs families of inmates held at Bugesera prison that the facility has been closed effective today. All inmates have therefore been transferred to other correctional facilities,” the notice reads.
The service added that families would visit their relatives at the facilities to which they had been transferred.
Speaking to IGIHE, Sengabo said Bugesera prison previously accommodated 2,320 inmates.
He attributed the closure to a nationwide decline in the inmate population, which has reduced the need for more correctional facilities.
“The general reason is that the number of inmates in the country has been declining. When the number of inmates decreases, the number of prisons also decreases. Those transferred will not cause overcrowding at the facilities where they have been relocated because our current occupancy rate stands at 97%,” he said
“We are no longer experiencing overcrowding, and the situation is continuing to improve. We therefore selected facilities without overcrowding to accommodate the transferred inmates,” he added.
Rwanda currently has 68,733 people in correctional facilities.
Following the closure of Bugesera prison, the country now has 12 active correctional facilities. Seven accommodate male inmates only, while Nyarugenge and Musanze prisons house both men and women. Nyagatare prison accommodates juveniles, while Nyamagabe and Ngoma prisons house female inmates only.
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