Uganda police, US investigators differ on child abuse claims at NGO

Two probes into potential gross child abuse at a not-for-profit faith organisation in Kiryandongo District; Restoration Gateway (RG), have released contradictory findings. 
The probes pose more questions on whether some of the child victims of the northern Uganda war, including orphans, were sexually harassed, trafficked and forced to perform hard labour, as alleged.

The Police’s Directorate of Criminal Investigations (CID) and Simba Talents Group, a US based private investigating firm, released their findings concerning alleged child abuses, financial impropriety, negligence and other unethical behaviours at the organisation. The private firm confirmed the atrocities while police officers insists the accusations are simply blackmail against its founders.

The organisation, which accommodates more than 250 child victims of the Lord Resistance Army (LRA) war, including orphans, was founded by an American couple; Dr David Tim McCall, the chief executive officer, and his wife Janice McCall, a co-director, in 2007. They founded the organsiation to assist vulnerable children and people of war-torn Northern Uganda.

CID detectives said they have burst a racket of suspected fraudsters consisting of powerful lawyers, senior doctors from the World Health Organisation (WHO), and some of the  organisation’s former board members.
The detectives said some members of the organisation allegedly were conniving with the organisation’s US-based executive director Mr Mike Durrill to overthrow the current leadership through fabricating “lies” against the founders and later grab its prime land and other properties.
The Head of the legal department at CID, SSP Isaiah Igumira, who led the investigation when contacted confirmed this development, but declined to divulge details and referred this publication to the police spokesperson Fred Enanga.

SCP Enanga when contacted for a comment said he will provide a detailed CID report once he gets it.
Some CID detectives who participated in the investigation but requested not to be named said the Kampala-based cartel of powerful individuals working together with Mr Durrill fabricated lies against the founders, influenced the Simba talents investigation, and bribed staff to tell lies contrary to what is going on at the organisation.
A 57-page report of the private investigators was produced in August after investigations that lasted eight months.

The report unearthed numerous child abuses, financial mismanagement, poor leadership, and other unethical behaviours.
Mr Durrill when contacted via mail on October 30 said they commissioned the Simba investigation and fully received the report which was later handed over to Ugandan authorities for further management.

The investigation, which substantiated cases of abuse of children and financial mismanagement, was commissioned after the organisation’s Uganda Board Chairman, Mr Andrew Niwagaba Bakainaga, petitioned them in May.

“As a result, the investigation report was given to the police and Ugandan government in an act of transparency. By doing this, the USA Board is trusting that the police will truly investigate the findings within the report and take appropriate action,” he said in a subsequent email response on November 8.
Based on the Simba probe report, Mr Durrill said the current management was asked to step down.

CID counter investigation
Detectives, who camped at the organisation for a week, told the Monitor that  the Simba team’s findings were false and did not reflect any form of abuse as they claim.
They added that the report was biased and compromised since they were hired by Mr Durrill who reportedly has a selfish interest in the organisations.

Mr Durrill, when asked about the CID’s accusations, said: “The US Board has no knowledge of what the police found or who the police talked to, so we cannot speak to that.”
Relatedly Simba Talents told this publication on November 7 that “Our Company is deeply disturbed that CID is more concerned about the investigators rather than the many victims that have suffered at the hands of Restoration Gateway,”
The ongoing scuffle led to the freezing of RG’s funding by its funders, including its US parent organisation, the Magnolia Foundation.
The USA Board has now been ordered to resign, according to this publication.

Mr Durrill shared a September 22 letter to the Board, which orders Dr Tim and Janice McCall to not only resign from all forms of leadership but also immediately and permanently go back USA

Genesis
On May 7, Mr Bakainaga reportedly wrote a letter to the members of the two Boards (USA and Uganda) complaining about the then ongoing child abuses at the organisation.
He alleged that he had been left in tears after seeing that Uganda orphaned children were undergoing numerous abuses, citing a case of teenage pregnancy where he said Ms Janice was blocking him from pursuing justice for the orphan.

“I emphatically state that it is not right for anyone to take lightly issues and allegations of abuse of children at RG, including an allegation of pregnancy,” reads part of the letter.
This was part of the complaint the US Board had received, according to Mr Durrill.

Contradictory probes
Simba Talents investigators camped at the organisation for [8] weeks, reviewed available documents, spoke to concerned people and visited different RG communities in Karuma and Gulu where they interacted with locals.
These said in their report that all the allegations were found to be credible based on the accounts of the victims.

“Their trauma was palpable and their wounds still fresh, but they were brave and determined to share their experience in their preferred format - whether verbally or in writing,” their report reads in part.
Likewise, the CID, which had commenced their investigation following a sexual harassment case that had earlier been reported by a victim, also camped at the organisation for a week, following Simba Talents’ report.
According to CID, what was perceived as child abuse in the private investors’ report, turned out to be minor punishments given to children to instill discipline.

“That report exaggerated the issues, most abuses like physical beating did not happen and even the sexual harassment allegations are also not true, if you reach on ground, you will see for yourself,” said a detective who participated in the probe.
Sources said the CID probe double-checked each case reported by the Simba Talents Group investigators. 

Two female orphans according to Simba talents probe were sexually harassed at the organisation while the third one confessed to having a consensual sexual relationship with one of the school heads.
CID on the other hand found four girls who they said got pregnant during the holidays and returned to the organisation while another case of sexual harassment was when a teacher touched the breasts of students, which sources said should have not been blown like the way it was done.

The private investigators accused the head of a department of  beating, punching, and strangling two students on separate occasions, which left one of them with numerous bruises, traumatised, and couldn’t walk. They said the  injured child was not taken for medical treatment.
They also said children aged between 11 and 13 are sometimes on weekends sent to bushes to collect firewood with sandals and they cook food for themselves.

“Children instead of finding solace and protection, now fear those individuals who are intended to safeguard them…,” reads part of the report.
CID investigators said this was also blown out of proportion. “We exposed the unscrupulous scheme of fraudsters...You think in Uganda we can condone child abuse and Americans feel for us more than we do here?” a detective wondered.