KCCA on Spot for Manhandling Street Kids.
The Napak District Woman MP, Faith Nakut Loru Chuna has slammed Kampala Capital City Authorities over high-handedness in the eviction of street children.
Recently KCCA Embarked on operations to clear street children off city streets, the operations that have seen hundreds of street kids evacuated from streets to rehabilitation homes.
However, this has not gone well with the Napak District women representative in parliament Faith Nakut who accuses KCCA enforcement officers of manhandling the vulnerable street children. She is displeased with the manner in which Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) officials recently removed children from Karamoja off the streets, saying that the children were manhandled although she supports the eviction.
“As a mother from the region, every time I see the children on the streets begging and being a subject of pity, it bothers me, so the idea of taking them out of the street is a good one,’’ but what I don’t like is the strategy deployed the legislator noted.
Nakut raised the matter to parliament complaining against shelters where children were taken saying they are incapacitated to accommodate them. She mentioned Koblin Center which has the capacity to house only 60 children but received over 100 of them.
She also casts doubt on the method of resettlement used by KCCA saying it doesn’t work because children have been running back to the streets immediately after resettlement.
She urged the government to have a detailed plan by first establishing where these children are going, who is going to take care of them, and those who need education.
Nakut also asked the government to take action against, traffickers and guardians who s bringing the children to the streets, to beg.
“My pain is the way they are being handled yet some of these children are being hired to beg, they are doing work for the traffickers, and others are sent to the streets to collect rent of 2000 thousand for space to sleep”, she noted.
“The laws are adequate for that, our problem is not the laws but implementation, trafficking is criminal and the punishment is clear so why are we not doing that” Hon Nakute wondered.
The Minister of State for Gender, Sarah Mateke, said that while KCCA manhandled the children, the rehabilitation center has the capacity to accommodate all of them.
She dismissed allegations that there is no food, explaining that every quarter, the Ministry of Finance releases funds because this is an institute that trains youths.
