Africa-Press – Uganda. Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) in partnership with Dwelling Places yesterday resumed eviction of children from Kampala streets for rehabilitation.
KCCA’s probation officer Mr Peter Mayanja said that the children will be rehabilitated at Dwelling Places home in Buloba, Wakiso District before they are reunited with their families.
“We would like to remove them from the streets and rehabilitate them at a designated place for three months. These children get exposed to so many hazards while on streets and as government this concerns us because we don’t want to see any child suffering,” he said.
Mr Mayanja also said that earlier efforts to evict the children from the streets had been disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Asked why children who are taken to rehabilitation centres end up coming back on streets, Mr Mayanja stated that there are some people who lure them on streets in the guise of supporting them yet they want to actually exploit them.
“We have previously arrested some people involved in trafficking of these children and we will not give up because these children deserve better and their rights must be respected,” he added.
Children on streets, authorities say, are exposed to multiple hazards among which include carrying and offloading luggage, sexual abuse, scorching sunshine and motor accidents which put their health at risk.
But also- as poverty bites, some of them end up engaging in criminal activities to make ends meet. For instance, motorists trapped in city traffic jams who don’t offer any help to street children have had their cars smashed by the street children.
-2019 KCCA ordinance-
In 2019 KCCA passed the Child Protection Ordinance 2019 to enhance child protection and control the influx of street children on the city streets.
By the ordinance, any child found loitering in a place such as a bar, restaurant, market, business or practicing commercial sex shall be rescued and handled through diversion by the council or probation and welfare officer.
Anybody found giving money or food to a child on Kampala risks imprisonment of not less than six months or pay a fine of Shs40, 000.
Similarly, any parent or guardian who neglects his or her child and allows him or her to loiter in the Street, bar or restaurant, risks imprisonment of not less than six months or pay a fine of Shs40,000.
However, this Ordinance is yet to be approved by the Attorney General before it’s implemented.
The acting country director Dwelling Places Ms Ritah Nkemba said that they would like the rehabilitated children to return to school since government has opened schools.
“At dwelling places we take between 40 to 60 children and when they are there, they stay for only three months before they are reunited with their families. The whole process involves rescue, rehabilitation, reconciliation, resettlement and re-integration,” she said.
