Whether it is raining heavily or the sun is scorching unbearably, there will be an avalanche of street children on different streets of Kampala City.
The children mostly between the ages of four and 11 spend their days begging, some sell retail merchandise whereas the others engage in petty theft of phones, car side mirrors among others. According to Ayivu Constituency MP, Benard Atiku, the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Children’s Forum, over 15,000 children live on the streets in Uganda.
His committee’s May 2018 report, however, did not explain where these children come from or how they end up on the streets but another investigation by the Christian NGO, Dwelling Places sheds light on the flourishing illegal market in North Eastern Uganda that breeds street children.
The NGO’s report reveals that there is a market in Napak district – Karamoja region – in which children are sold at Shs20,000 and brought to urban areas.
Damon Wamara, the country director, Dwelling Places, noted that out of eight districts assessed, Napak leads in sending street children to urban centres, most of whom are forced by gangs to raise money through begging.
“There is a market at Arapai, where the children are auctioned. All you need to go is to give them the type, colour and stature and someone will bring you that child for Shs20,000. That money is the cost of our children,” Wamara said.
This, Wamara reveals is regardless of whether the children have both parents who are aware of the trade because they are often too poor and are promised handsome returns when the children settle in well in the towns.
Although the police have promised to crack down on the seemingly flourishing market, the number of street children has more than tripled in the last five years according to the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) spokesperson, Peter Kaujju.
“There are some people that go to Karamoja and convince the parents to send their children to Kampala to go to school. They then make the children beg on their behalf,” he said adding that the authority has been able to prosecute some and continues the pursuit for others.”
Kaujju added KCCA has been working with the authorities, public transport companies to curb child trafficking especially from the North Eastern region but with little success.
The Authority has now resorted to working with NGOs such as Dwelling Places, AfriChild Centre among others to rehabilitate and resettle the street children to areas where they can be more productive.
KCCA also passed a directive to arrest any member of the public that is found giving street children any sort of incentive, be it money or food that would entice them to prolong their stay on the streets.
Police, KCCA faulted
In their efforts to get street children off out of urban areas especially Kampala, the police and KCCA law enforcement officers have been faulted for using unnecessary force and sometimes, brutality to handle the vulnerable children.
In a Human Rights Watch report last year, police officers, KCCA and local government officials were found to have “frequently harassed, threatened, and beaten, arrested and detained” or robbed young homeless people.
The report noted that things are even worse in the government rehabilitation centres from where children escape back to the streets due to the despicable crimes that happen there.
In some of the homes, the researchers found out that sexual violence such as sodomy by older boys, inappropriate touching and sexual abuse of girls by some male caretakers exists without knowledge of the authorities.
As a result, the government ordered the closure of over 500 illegal street children homes across the country.
It is now that Karamoja Minister, Eng. John Byabagambi outlined plans to resettle street children to the facilities in Wakiso district and Moroto districts that have been refurbished and equipped to handle the children before they are repatriated to their home areas.