Children accuse leaders of failure to protect them

LIRA. Children used the occasion to mark the Day of the African Child to highlight the worst predicament they are facing today.
As children presented their issues at Okwaloamara Primary School in Ogur Sub-county, Lira District on June 16, where the commemoration for the district took place, the political leaders, members of the community and teachers were put in a spot of bother after the children accused them in their short speeches and drama, of failing to protect them and ensuring they get the best in life.

“All forms of calamities face the African child. We starve from morning to evening, overwhelming numbers in classrooms leading to poor performance, we are being tormented, our future almost ruined because of child labour, child kidnap, defilement, early marriage and child sacrifice,” the children’s representative, Marion Akello, 15, said.
The children highlighted a litany of child abuse incidents they face in the sub-region.

Complaint
For instance in March 2017, police arrested a 48-year-old teacher after he allegedly defiled a nine-year-old Primary One pupil of Aleny Primary School, Kamdini Sub-county in Oyam District.
In July 2017, a former LC3 chairman in Oyam District was remanded to Oyam Prison for allegedly defiling and impregnating a 15-year-old girl. In March this year, a 58-year-old man was arrested for allegedly defiling and impregnating his 15-year-old granddaughter in Abako Sub-county, Alebtong District. The victim, who dropped out in Primary Four in 2017, was a pupil of Tyen-gar Primary School.

Around that same period, police in Amolatar District apprehended a 39-year-old teacher for allegedly defiling a 14-year-old pupil.
Police records indicate that about 700 girls were defiled in a period of six months in Lango Sub-region in 2017.
The record shows that 546 children were neglected by their parents, 91 were abandoned while 51 children suffered child abuse.

Children said they are the future and it is the responsibility of adults to protect them and ensure that they get the best in their life. Unfortunately this is not always the case in many districts, including Lira. Akello, a Primary Seven pupil of Okwaloamara Primary School, said.
“Our primary purpose in this life is to help others and if you can’t help them, at least don’t harm them. So let’s sacrifice today (the Day of the African Child) so that our children can get a better tomorrow,” she said.

According to Akello, children continue to suffer many challenges, including child labour, child neglect, child marriages, defilement and rape, unfavourable environment, unsupportive parents and community, discrimination and stigma. She said young school girls are being raped and defiled.
“We have been forced into marriage at an early age yet we are still young – not ready to take care of a man and enter household. Some of our parents have neglected their responsibility of taking care of us. We are not being sent to schools, leaving us with no food,” Ms Akello said.
She added: “All these are reasons for the increased malnutrition, stunted growth and high numbers of school dropout in our community.”

Children pleaded with parents and government to give them a chance to stay at school, further wondering why perpetrators of child abuse are left to move freely in the community.
Under the themes “Leave No Child Behind for Africa’s Development” (international) and “Leave No Child Behind for Uganda’s Development” (national), this year’s commemoration specifically targets those children who are not benefiting from Africa’s growth and development.

Africa’s history in relation to the protection of its minors is one of both hope and doom, according Refugee Law Project (RLP), an outreach project of the School of Law, Makerere University, in a statement issued on June 16.
“The continent harbours some of the world’s direst catastrophes – amid its glorious natural resources which some people argue to be its “biggest curse. Democratic Republic of Congo, for instance, with its long history of militias, is often satirized as “the rape capital of the world,” the statement added.

According to the organisation, a critical mass of African children continues to witness unspeakable levels of adversity. Many languish in poverty, dying of hunger and severe malnutrition, as well as preventable and other ‘strange’ diseases, including from nodding syndrome in northern Uganda, and many more are forced to trek painful miles in pursuit of safe havens.

The outgoing Resident District Commissioner of Lira, Mr Robert Abak, acknowledged that children have continued to suffer in the hands of those who are supposed to protect them.
He said the government is doing everything possible to ensure that children’s rights are observed countrywide.

Plan International Uganda noted that the Day of the African Child presents an opportunity for the African nations to mobilise their efforts for the sake of children’s welfare and to promote children’s human rights to a wider audience.
“The Day of the African Child presents an opportunity to forecast on the work of all actors who are committed to upholding the rights of children on the continent and in Uganda in particular, and to support their efforts in addressing the obstacles for realising these rights,” Mr Collins Mutinda, the NGO’s programme area coordinator, said.

“At Plan International Uganda, we believe in the power and potential of every child but this is often suppressed by poverty, violence explosion and discrimination and it is girls who are the most affected,” he added.

Mr Mutinda said their organisation has been tackling the root causes of the challenges facing girls and all vulnerable children.
“We recognise the fact that girls and boys are the most vulnerable categories of people in Uganda and in Lira, and we shall continue designing all our programmes aimed at ensuring that these children enjoy their rights and general well-being,” he added.

Lira District secretary for community based services, Ms Medina Okeng, encouraged parents to enrol into family planning to limit the number of children they have to solve the problem of child neglect and abandonment.
“Parents should ensure not to give away their children below 18 years to solve the problem of child marriage,” she said.

The LC3 chairman of Ogur Sub-county, Mr Michael Odongo, warned that any parent who refuses to send their children to school will be arrested and prosecuted.
Mr Patrick Okello, a parent in Ogur Sub-county said they will change their attitude towards children’s education and wellbeing.