NATIONAL
200 children stolen last year - report
Kampala
One in every 10 children who go missing in Sub-Saharan Africa annually is a Ugandan baby, a new report shows. The report compiled by the child rights NGO, African Network for the Prevention and Protection against Child Abuse and Neglect (ANPPCAN)-Uganda Chapter, and released yesterday, indicates that child disappearance was the second most rampant form of child abuse recorded in 2009 after defilement.
A total of 2, 500 children in Sub-Saharan African went missing last year of which 206 were abducted Ugandan babies. The report released a day after a gruesome murder of a one-and-a-half-year-old Khan Kakama added to sombre mood shared by many.
Some of the children, the report indicated are stolen or trafficked. Mr Haruna Mawa, ANPPCAN’s programme officer for information said the practice of stealing children was most pronounced in the districts of Masaka, Lyantonde, Ssembabule, Kalangala and Rakai.
This growing evil has been attributed to the increasing incidences of domestic violence, poverty, traditional beliefs and culture, which have resulted in breakdown of many families.
This growing evil has been attributed to the increasing incidences of domestic violence, poverty, traditional beliefs and culture, which have resulted in breakdown of many families.
Mr Anslem Wandega, the ANNPCAN programme coordinator said; “The increase in domestic violence in the country has forced many women out of homes thus leaving the children behind with men who hardly have time for the minors, forcing many to flee the hostile environments.”
Mr Wandega, who attributed the evil to the increased practice by witch doctors and human sacrifice in the country said, “we continue to see scenes of murdered children in newspapers by people allegedly searching for wealth”.
According to the police annual crime report 2009, defilement remains the most rampant form of crime against children standing at 57 per cent, followed by child neglect (24 per cent), child desertion (5.9 per cent), indecent assault (4.3 per cent), child theft (1.6 per cent), kidnap (0.2 per cent) and child trafficking with 0.1 per cent.
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