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Barrio: A market for child brides

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People in the livestock section of Barrio market on January 15. Local leaders say they are struggling to combat the issue due to secret negotiations taking place between parents. PHOTO | BILL OKETCH

By 5am, people begin arriving at Barrio Market in Bar Parish, Abok Sub-county, Oyam District.

Traders from Oyam, Lira, Kole, Apac, Gulu, Omoro, Alebtong, and Otuke districts gather at this 40-year-old weekly market, held every Wednesday, to buy and sell goods. 

The market is divided into two sections; livestock, which opens at around 5am and closes at 11am and the general market, which starts immediately after the livestock traders are gone, until late in the evening. 

According to the Abok Sub-county leadership, the market generates Shs25m (Shs10m from livestock section and general section Shs15m) in revenue per quarter.

However, the market has also become a hub for illegal child marriage. Parents occasionally bring their underage daughters and exchange them for money, chickens, goats and cows.

Some families even come ready with the bride price and when they find a girl they like, they negotiate with her family and hand over the bride price according to the deal reached and leave with the girl.

Mr Emmanuel Omara, the chairman of Lelacol Village in Bar Parish, says local leaders are struggling to combat the issue due to secret negotiations taking place between parents.

“They can pick those animals in the village there and then they pretend to go and sell them in the market. So, that is when they make an appointment and secretly hand over the animals to the parents of the girl,” he says. 

Daily Monitor has learnt that parents began conducting child marriages in the market after leaders in Abok Sub-county, in collaboration with the police, thwarted the marriage of a 13-year-old girl in Ariba Parish in February 2022.

At the time, a concerned citizen alerted the area LC3 chairman, Mr Phillips Ogile, alias Jakayo, upon witnessing the underage girl being married off to an older man.

“I rang the officer-in-charge of Abok Police Station and we rushed there and found them when they were actually at the giveaway party. The parents of the girl and the boy were dancing, other people were cooking beans, meat and chicken. Police fired five bullets in the air and several people ran away,” Mr Ogile says.

The girl was rescued, 11 people were arrested, taken to court and two were convicted.

Ms Mildren Auma, the head teacher of Barrio Primary School, which is approximately 500 metres away from the market, says: “The Abok Sub-county chairperson is a no-nonsense person. When he learns that a child is being married off, he takes immediate action,” Ms Auma says.

She adds: “As a result, I think that could be the reason why parents of the girl and the boy sit down and agree on what to be brought for the bride price and then they bring it just pretending they’re coming to sell those things, and at the end of it all, you find that marriage has already taken place unceremoniously.”

Mr Ogile attributes the prevalence of child marriage to various factors, including negative gender norms, poor parenting, greed, poverty, ignorance, peer pressure, teen pregnancies, a breakdown in social protection systems, and deeply rooted cultural traditions and beliefs.

“Parents are using young girls for business to get something for survival. They are not looking at the future,” he says.

Ms Eunice Awuno, a mother, blames the problem on excessive alcohol consumption and men’s refusal to invest in their children’s education.

“They instead send the children to go and stay with relatives. Even when they are arrested, they come back from police custody and continue torturing children and forcing them to get married so that they can get money for alcohol,” Ms Awuno says.

Ms Rose Anyango, a member of Otwal Sub-county court, says the issue cuts across Lango Sub-region.

“The parents and the children are to blame for this. The problem with the parents is alcoholism. The children are getting married at a tender age because they watch sex movies and they start engaging in sex when they are still young,” she says.

Mr Omara says although they report cases of child abuse to higher authorities, the response is always sluggish.

“If it is defilement, you find the police are trying to inquire about the issue of fuel for investigation but for us we don’t have any money to facilitate that kind of fuel. The office of the CDO [community development officer] also works with police and without the police, the case can die natural death,” the Lelacol Village chairman says.

Mr Ogile adds: “It does not only need the intervention of the government, it needs a joint effort. Human rights defenders and non-governmental organisations should help us sensitise these people to know the value of education and the value of marriage when the girl is mature.”

Ms Winnie Acen, the community development officer of Abok Sub-county, says it is difficult to end child marriage because of several factors.

“Is there someone feeling the pain in child marriage? Maybe the small girl who is being married is the one feeling the pain, but the rest are very okay because the parents are getting money. And if they hear that someone is coming to report, what I think, they can again give that person money not to report,” Ms Acen says.

She adds: “And also when the LC1s are already bribed, of course you will not know what is happening unless you get a tip that such and such a thing is happening.”

Ms Christine Anono, the Lira District community development officer, says social workers are receiving death threats from individuals promoting child marriage.

“There was a time we held a meeting with all the cultural leaders. I prepared a very provocative presentation. After the presentation, one cultural leader told me ‘if you think you’re going to hold that personal, you’re going to die’,” she says.

Mr Brain Ogutu, the Oyam District councillor, says: “When you allow your underage daughter to be married off that means you are fighting with the future of your home, and the future of Uganda, and then you’re the enemy number one for the people of Uganda, and then we must start dealing with you.”

Mr Tom Onyuti, a leader of the Arakodworo Clan in Lira City, says they have been sensitising the community about the effects of child marriage but many disadvantaged families continue to marry off their daughters.

Pregnant teenagers face heightened risks of health complications during pregnancy and childbirth, as well as an increased likelihood of poverty and limited opportunities in the future.

Between March 2023 and March 2024, 2,476 girls under the age of 15 attended their first antenatal care (ANC) visits at health facilities nationwide.

According to data from the Uganda Health Information System, an additional 1,755 girls in the same age group gave birth at various facilities across the country.

Dr Carline Agaro, the assistant Oyam District health officer , says from March 2023 to March 2024, a total of 10 girls below the age of 15 went to health facilities for their first antenatal care visit.

“Five percent of the girls were from Kamdini Sub-county, with three of the five girls being attended to at Zambia Health Centre II and the other two at Aber Hospital,” she says.

Ms Anono says as part of efforts to combat child marriage, teenage pregnancy, and child abuse, Lira District developed a policy in 2018.