Protect children against sacrifice

While child sacrifice has been a long standing problem, cases have increased in the last five years, according to records from the Anti-Human Sacrifice Taskforce of the Uganda Police and child protection and advocacy
groups.

Over 20,000 Ugandans have signed a petition to compel Parliament to enact tougher laws against child sacrifice. The petition is part of the campaign by Kyampisi Childcare Ministries, a local organization advocating for the
plight of children. They say life imprisonment for culprits of ritual murders should be an appropriate punishment and that this will reduce the vice.
While child sacrifice has been a long standing problem, cases have increased in the last five years, according to records from the Anti-Human Sacrifice Taskforce of the Uganda Police and child protection and advocacy
groups.
In fact, a report released this week by Humane Africa—a research organisation points to cases of more children being ritually killed in the country. It documented 35 cases of child mutilation between June and September 2012.
It also showed that children between the ages of 3 and 18 years were the most vulnerable and targeted.
Most of these killings have been linked to a desire to become wealthy and the belief that when traditional medicine contains body parts, it becomes more powerful.
While the efforts of those signing the petition should be lauded, the punishment handed down to some of the culprits can’t addresses their concerns.
Two famous cases being that of businessman Kato Kajubi who hired a witchdoctor to murder a 12 year old boy for ritual purposes. He was handed a life sentence while Kintu Mapeera, who killed a seven-year-old child in cold blood in a Kampala suburb, was sentenced to 70 years in prison.
But despite these tough sentences, the vice still continues partly because hundreds of other cases haven’t been investigated by Police. Even those that are under investigation, the process has been slow to deliver justice
to the affected parties.
The Police should therefore expedite their investigations.
In the meantime, the government, community leaders and child rights organisations all need to join hands to protect children against these evil acts.
Without the support of the wider community, children will continue to be victims of ritual sacrifice.