Uganda’s Foreign Affairs ministry has responded to social media reports that some 23 Ugandans were currently on death row in China, awaiting the gallows, over drug trafficking.

In a statement issued on July 17, the ministry dismissed the reports as false.

The ministry says that the list contains names of “Ugandans who were sentenced to death a number of years ago but were granted a two-year reprieve by the Chinese courts, which was later reduced from death to life imprisonment and further to a fixed term”.

“… it is our understanding [as the foreign affairs ministry that] the Chinese government has not scheduled executions of any Ugandans prisoners at this time,” the statement assures in part.

The ministry also added that the two governments would continue to have bilateral discussions on pending cases of prisoners from the two countries.