BY MICHAEL THEMBO MUHAYIRWA
The Police in Kasese district have arrested four parents from Kasese Municipality whose children are among the street kids and subsequently charged of child neglect.
The Rwenzori East Regional Police Spokesperson, SP Nelson Tumushime says the suspects were arrested after a successful operation carried out by police, probation office and Kasese Municipal leadership against street children.
The Regional Mouthpiece explains that during the operation, they arrested five street kids who later led them to their homes within the urban centre and subsequently arrested their parents who are currently detained at Kasese Central Police Station. He adds that the arrested parents will be produced in the Courts of Law to answer the charge of child neglected that has been preferred against them.
Mr. Rabson Thembo, a Probation Officer in-charge of Children’s Affairs attached to Kasese District Local Government, says the operation followed a public outcry indicating that the number of street children had increased in Kasese town.
According to him, during the operation, even children between the ages of six and 13 were found on the street, a disappointment that forced his office and the Municipal leadership to trace for their parents within the Municipality and arrested them.
He was so skeptical that such unattended to children might be recruited by the Gaza Group that is terrorizing most parts of Kasese town.
Mr. Martin Safari, the Chairperson L. C III for the Central Division who also doubles as the leader of the Chairpersons of three Divisions in Kasese Municipality told our reporter that on July 17, 2024, they held a security meeting and resolved that street kids should be arrested because they compromise the security of the of the residents including visitors.
According to him, the street kids waylay the bags of people especially women who move on boda-bodas and also disturb the tourists while moving on the streets.
He has since warned the parents to devise the proper means of nurturing their children including taking them to schools, failure of which risk to be arrested in the ongoing operation against street kids.
He has also sounded a stern warning to the residents who connive with the street kids through sending them to steal people’s property and thereafter buy them at subsidized prices, arguing that such a category of people risk to be arrested and prosecuted.
ENDS