Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni regrets halting death penalty

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said on Monday he regretted stopping executions in his 'pre-industrial' country.

 This is just days after his vow to resume death terms alarmed rights groups. He last signed a death warrant in 1999 to execute 28 convicts, while execution under army law was last carried out in 2002.

 "I saw some NGOs opposing the death sentence. In a pre-industrial society like ours removing death sentence is a recipe for chaos. We believe in the Law of Moses; eye for an eye", he told the annual judges conference in Kampala, said his senior press secretary, Don Wanyama.

"I have been making the mistake of not sanctioning these death sentences, I am repenting," he said. "As you aspire for best international practices, you must be aware that societies like the United Kingdom went through the industrial revolution 200 years ago.

 Here in Uganda and Africa we are dealing with pre-industrial societies," he said. On Friday he said:

"Criminals think they have a right to kill people and keep their heads ... I am going to revise a bit and hang a few."