BY MOUREEN BIIRA
About 200 children of school going age are still encamped at RDC’s office in Kasese town.
The affected children are among those who have not yet reported to their respective schools since the second term began following a peaceful demonstration that their parents have staged over issues related to land.
The camp that has spent a week is accommodating people from 09 villages including Nkoko, Ibuga – Kisanga and Kyabatukura in Kitswamba sub county, Kabukero in Karusandara, Kirembe and Butsumba in Kasese Municipality, Rwehingo – Omuruti in Nyakiyumbu sub county, Kimanywagoha – Omuruti in Nyakatonzi Sub County and Kyamihogo in Muhokya.
The victims of land conflicts allege that they decided to pitch camp at the RDC’s office following the alleged illegal evictions from their ancestral pieces of land in the mentioned villages.
The children of school going age who spoke to our reporter on condition of anonymity because they are minors said there was no way for them to resume schooling because of their parents’ inability to provide scholastic materials for them.
The innocent children have thus appealed to the government to expedite the process of resolving the alleged land disputes are yet to affect their future.
Some of the parents in the camp insisted that their children would not go to school when they were still displaced and living in the camp.
Asked about the hygiene and sanitation in the camp, Grace Biira, their Chairperson, said they had instituted an internal security team that has been tasked with the role of ensuring security and restricting the movements of the teenage youth in the camp.
She also revealed that they had secured basic hygiene materials including soap and jerrycans from well-wishers to limit the possibility of disease outbreaks.
ENDS