Uganda:Surge in street children sparks security concerns in Mbarara

Residents and leaders of Mbarara City have raised concern over the increasing number of street children.

It’s nearly impossible to walk around the city without encountering these children, who are often seen begging, searching through garbage bins for food, and collecting scrap and empty plastic bottles to sell.

Residents and leaders say when night falls, the street children become aggressive and notorious, engaging in various forms of criminal activity, particularly in poorly lit corridors, service lanes, and pathways.

They blamed the issue on parents neglecting their roles and responsibilities.

The Mbarara City North probation officer, Mr Gershom Kakuru, said they estimate the number of street children in Mbarara City to be more than 300.

“The numbers are increasing now and again. We try to resettle these children by taking them to rehabilitation centres and back to their families but they escape and return to the streets. This is because most of these children are already taken up by drugs,” he said. in an interview at the weekend.

Mr Amos Nuwarinda, a businessman on Mbarara High Street, said the increasing number of street children is a security threat.

“We used to hear street children in Kampala but now on every corner of the city, there are street children. They move from shop to shop begging and if you are not keen enough they snatch your valuables,” he said.

Mr Hassan Mukasa, another businessman on Mbaguta Street, said the children are tarnishing the city’s image.

“Having street children on all corners is not good for a developing city like Mbarara. They snatch bags and phones from visitors, and tourists, and inconvenience them through begging. It is not good for us and authorities should intervene to address this,” Mr Mukasa said.

Mr Ali Abdallah Ssudi Mugisha, the local council chairperson for Kisenyi Cell in Kakoba Ward, Mbarara City South Division, said: “They are engaged in all sorts of criminality, snatching people’s bags, phones, and stealing household items. We appeal to authorities to rein them in otherwise the city will soon turn into a criminal den.”

Mr Bonny Tashobya, the speaker of Mbarara City, said they are worried that the children will form criminal gangs.

“There are people who use them for petty thefts, the ones who sell them the drugs they use like mairungi and marijuana and those who hire them to commit crimes. These should be arrested and we are going to work with police to have this done,” Mr Tashobya said.

Mr Tashobya, however, said they lack resources to rehabilitate and resettle the children.

Mr Muhammad Byansi, a Mbarara City Council councillor, said the community should not condemn the children but also look at the challenges that force them onto the streets.

“Some of these children are on the streets not because they want to but because they are tortured and face all forms of cruelty in their homes and communities. Let us look at a multi-sectoral approach to handle this including arresting parents who have neglected their responsibilities,” Mr Byansi said.

Mbarara Municipality Mayor Robert Mugabe Kakyebezi said they have implemented several interventions, including arrests, to discourage street children in Mbarara town.

“We have tried to rehabilitate and resettle these children but we need a rehabilitation center and possibly a remand home. This will at least help us to check these growing numbers,” Mr Kakyebezi said.

“Parents have delegated their roles to maids, and schools, they are too busy for their children. That is how most of them end up on the streets,” he added.

The Rwizi region police spokesperson, Mr. Samson Kasasira, said: “The children are involved in all sorts of criminality like raping women, theft, and snatching people’s bags. We arrest them like any other criminal, but the challenge is that we lack a remand home in this region but the responsibility of managing these children is largely on the city authority. We only come in when there is a criminal element,” he said.