Boy, 11, takes care of family as parents disappear
Ochow (2ndR) with his siblings at Kayunga Police Station on Saturday. Photo by Fred Muzaale
An 11-year-old boy in Kayunga District is struggling to look after his six siblings after their parents abandoned them seven months ago.
Magidu Ochow with his young brothers and sisters claim that their father, Mr Jamir Oyana, a traditional healer, left home in January saying he was going for burial in Tororo District.
“Our father told us that he was going to come back the following day but since then we have never heard from him,” Ochow said.
Their mother, Ms Zulaika Nakirya, according to the children, separated with their father three years ago after a domestic feud.
Ochow, who on Saturday led his siblings on a six-mile journey from Wajjanzi Village to Kayunga Police Station, said he had got stuck as he could no longer afford to fend for the family.
Destitute
He said he has been making bricks to get money to feed the family while some Good Samaritans have also helped them.
“All the food that had been grown by our father got finished and since my siblings are too young they cannot engage in farming,” he narrated to the shock of curious residents at Kayunga police.
Some of them cannot walk with ease because of the jiggers in their feet.
Other children were identified as Fazira Atiya, 9, Mariam Awori, Zahara Akemu, Sharifa Najuma and Nulu Ekesa.
During the interview, the children wept as they narrated how they sleep on empty stomachs and on the floor after their mother took with her all beddings.
The officer in-charge of the Child and Family protection Unit, Mr Samuel Masolo, said he was surprised when he found the children at his office doorsteps early in the morning.
“This is unbelievable and unacceptable. We have embarked on a hunt for these irresponsible parents so that they are arrested and charged with child desertion,” Mr Masolo said.
He, however, said he did not have space to host the juveniles as they look for the parents.
A human rights research firm recently indicated that children in several rural parts of the country suffer from indirect abuse caused by over drinking, ritual activities in shrines, domestic conflicts and negligence.
