Sango Bay landing site where defilers get away with crime

Kyotera.

Jane Namuddu, 9 (not real name), a Primary Three pupil at His Grace Day Care, Nursery and Primary School in Kyebe Sub-county, Kyotera District, was raped at a very tender age.
She vividly recalls what befell her on the fateful night of April 15 last year when a stranger followed her up to her home.
“It was getting dark when my mum sent me home alone to bring some coins to enable her pay back balance to her customers. I went running since it was not too far from my mother’s restaurant. On entering the house, I went straight to her bed room. But while there, I suddenly heard someone locking the door. When I turned, I saw a man (name withheld) removing his clothes,” Namuddu recalls.
“When I looked at him, he spushed me onto my mother’s bed, hit my right ankle joint with an empty soda bottle, raped me and threatened to kill me if I made an alarm,” she adds.
Namuddu’s mother, Constanta Nabakooza, says after waiting for her daughter in vain, she rushed to her house only to find her bleeding profusely, with her legs widely spread.
“I made an alarm, which attracted my neighbours who helped me to take her to Kasensero Health Centre III though we found it closed and ended up at a community health unit called Basoga,” she says.
Nabakooza adds that the following morning, she reported the case at Kasensero Police Station and the suspect was arrested.
However, during the days she spent at the clinic, the suspect was released.

Police actions
“After treating my daughter for 29 days, I went to the police station to follow up the case. The investigating officer by then, whom I identified as Afande Brown, referred me to Rakai Police Station where the suspect had been transferred. Reaching there, police officers said they had released the suspect since there was no one accusing him,” Nabakooza narrates.
“I am a single mother; I had no one to leave at the clinic to take care of my sick child, and how could I follow up the case at police?” she adds.
Namuddu is among the many young girls at the landing site who have experienced similar psychological distress.
Although police in the area deny registering any defilement cases from the landing site, Mr Matiya Luyinda, the chairperson Magango Village, insists such cases are rampant but go unreported.
Defilement is defined as having sexual intercourse with a girl who is below the age of 18. According to the Ugandan law, anybody below 18 years is considered a child. It does not matter whether or not they have consented to having sexual intercourse.
“I personally know about 10 children who have been defiled, but the perpetuators go scot- free because no one follows up their cases,” Mr Luyinda says.
He blames the incidents on lack of a police post in the area and says security officers occasionally visit the area to arrest people engaging in illegal fishing.
“Police and the district authorities have ignored this area. It is like we are not part of Uganda. Fewer police patrols are made in this village and this has given criminals room to do whatever they want,” he adds.
Ms Margaret Asiimwe (not real name), 13, another victim, says she was withdrawn from school by her mother after she was defiled at the age of 12.
“My mother said she could continue wasting her money on a defiled child and I am seated at home,” she narrates as tears roll down her cheeks.
Rakai District Police Commander Okum Nyeko declined to comment on the cases, referring this reporter to Southern region police spokesperson Lameck Kigozi.
When contacted, Mr Kigozi said police officers at all levels have no right to discontinue aggravated defilement cases once investigations have commenced.
“What they [police officers] have to do is to take the suspects to court, which later sends them on remand for five months to allow further investigations,” he said.
He, however, added that they have been challenged by parents who conspire with defilers and some unscrupulous police officers to get money and end up frustrating investigations.
“It is public knowledge that many parents of the victims connive with the defilers to kill the cases. Unless our people cooperate with us, this evil of defilement will continue to be a hard nut to crack in our communities,” he said.
Ms Majorine Namitala, the programmes coordinator of Rise and Shine Girls Club, a community-based organisation in Kyotera, describes Magango Village as a community full of hopeless people, drug addicts and idlers.

Single mothers
“We camped in that area for a period of one week to study the behaviours of people. We came to realise that a big number of women raise more than two children as single mothers. Out of 10 people, seven are drunkards. So, what do you expect from such a community?” Ms Namitala says.
Mr Isaac Tumwesigye, the head teacher of His Grace Day Care School, says for the last three years, he has seen many girls being married off before they complete their Primary Seven.
“I have seen children being married off by parents at the age of 14. Boys also spend the night on the lake fishing and in the morning, they are sent to school without getting enough time to sleep,” he says.
Mr Tumwesigye adds that since Magango Village neighbours Kasensero Landing Site, majority women engage in prostitution, leaving their children at home alone while some force young girls also to join sexual activities to meet their daily needs.
Ms Pamela Watuwa, the resident district commissioner, says her office has received similar reports.
“My office is yet to carry out sensitisation not only at the landing site but also in other areas with similar conditions. We will focus on attitude change, injustices in the area and responsible parties will also be advised to take action,” she says.
According to a survey commissioned by the Rakai District probation office last year, at least 306 girls were defiled in the district in 2016, another 64 girls disappeared from their parents and are believed to have got married. According to the report, more than 3,362 children between the ages of 10 to 17 are already mothers.