In Bududa, parents prefer clan heads to resolve defilement cases

Mbale. When Agnes (not real name) was defiled at the age of 15, her parents in Bulucheke Sub-county, Bududa District, secretly engaged clan leaders and her 34-year-old defiler to settle the matter without engaging police.
According to a family member, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the culprit agreed to pay bride price and marry Agnes.
The member said they opted for an out-of-court settlement since courts of law take long to dispense justice.
“We settled it within two days because we did not involve police. When you involve them, they prolong the issues and at the end, you gain nothing,” the source said shortly after meeting in one of the villages in Bulucheke Sub-county last week.
The member added that settling defilement cases traditionally restores peace and togetherness between the two affected families and clans.
“All of them are our children and community members, so we cannot hand him to police yet he is willing to marry our daughter and pay our dowry,” the member added.
Agnes’ experience is a hint of a bigger problem affecting Bugisu sub-region as local leaders and parents aid defilement.

The law
According to the Penal Code Act, a person who performs a sexual act with another person below 18 years commits a felony known as defilement and is liable to life imprisonment on conviction.
The same law provides for aggravated defilement for sexual acts with a person below the age of 14.
Bududa District Police Commander Esther Adeke said on average, 22 girls are defiled per month in the district.
“The report we have shows that defilement remains high yet more cases remain unreported,” she said.
According to the police statistics, more than 156 cases of defilement have been reported between January and July this year.
Ms Adeke attributed the increase to commercialisation of the vice.

Police concerns
“Defilement is the second highest committed offence in the district and it has persisted because parents and clan leaders have taken it up as a business venture,” she said.
She added that on several occasions when they arrest the suspects, family members later report to police, demanding his release.
The DPC added, however, that they now arrest parents who agree to negotiate with defilers.
However, Mr Simon Matsangha, a resident of Bulucheke Sub-county, faulted police for mishandling cases of defilement, leaving residents to resolve the matter domestically.
According to a recent survey conducted in the sub region by Social Transformation Effort Programme Uganda (STEP-UG), a local NGO, lack of political will and cultural practices such as circumcision, poverty and ignorance are driving the vice.
The sub-region comprises Manafwa, Bududa, Namisindwa, Mbale, Bulambuli and Sironko districts.
Mr Fred Ngando, the executive director of STEP-UG, says parents have neglected the responsibility of taking care of their children due to abject poverty and deep–rooted cultural beliefs, which do not favour the girl-child.

Parents blamed
According to Mr Ngando, some parents are forced to settle defilement cases through negotiations at a community level because police at times mismanage cases.
Bududa is also one of the districts in the country with the highest cases of early pregnancy.
Dr Imelda Tumuhairwe, the district health officer, says of the about 45 deliveries at Bududa Hospital per month, half of them are of teenagers.
“We need to break the culture of negative attitude towards education of the girl –child because most parents still think educating girls is a waste of resources,” she says.
Ms Jane Nabwire, a senior woman at Bulucheke Secondary School, says settling defilement cases at community level is the main reason the vice has continued for long. “The men deliberately defile young girls because they know they have cows to pay for dowry,” she says.

Defilement numbers
According to the 2010 police annual crime report, defilement tops the list of sexual offences.
The 2011 police statistics show that 2,233 girls were defiled in Bugisu and Bukeddi sub-regions, the highest figure ever recorded in the sub-regions.
According to police, out of the 2,233 cases recorded, 1,572 cases are still under inquiry, 308 cases were taken to court where 123 were convicted and three were dismissed.
According to a 2015 police report, more than 217 cases were registered in the five districts of Mbale, Sironko, Bududa, Manafwa and Bulambuli.

[email protected]