100 K'jong mothers sentenced for sending children to beg on streets
Written by URN
Kampala
Capital City Authority City Hall court has sent more than 100 Karamojong
mothers back to Napak for rehabilitation and to serve a one-month
community service sentence for sending their children to the streets to
beg.
Grade one magistrate Edgar Karakire
found the mothers guilty of sending children to beg in a public place.
They have been on remand in Luzira prison for three weeks. They were
rounded up by KCCA law enforcement officers from various streets in the
city ahead of preparations for the recently concluded NAM and G77
conferences in Kampala.
They were arraigned before the court for
plea-taking and later remanded to prison after pleading not guilty to
the charge against them. At City Hall court, the women who were carrying
their children, however, pleaded guilty and asked the court for
leniency, arguing that they had not wasted the court's time. They also
asked to be sent back to Napak to start a new life with their children.
The
court accepted their pleas since KCCA prosecutor Hillary Musiimenta
left it to the court's discretion to hand an appropriate punishment.
Karakire noted that the offence of sending children to beg on the
streets is so rampant but considered the mothers' plight some of whom
are widows and have no source of income to look after the children.
Although
the offence attracts a maximum jail term of six months upon conviction,
the magistrate ordered that they be returned to Napak for
rehabilitation and also do community service as a punishment. He further
cautioned them against sending their children back to the streets.
The
court also ordered that in case the mothers fail to serve their
punishment, they will be jailed for one month. This is not the first
time that the Karamojong mothers have been convicted by the same court
over the same charges.
In August 2022, grade one magistrate Jane
Tibagonzeka found a group of 25 women from the Karamoja sub-region
guilty of sending their children on the streets to beg and sentenced
them to serve a jail term of three months.
In June 2022, KCCA
passed a Children's Protection Ordinance which makes it punishable for
one to send children on the streets to beg. The same law criminalizes
children loitering in public places soliciting for money, vending, or
hawking and it also bans the sale of alcohol to children. According to
the ordinance, anyone who breaches this law will be jailed for six
months or pay a fine of two currency points (Shs 40,000) or both.
They were arraigned before the court for plea-taking and later remanded to prison after pleading not guilty to the charge against them. At City Hall court, the women who were carrying their children, however, pleaded guilty and asked the court for leniency, arguing that they had not wasted the court's time. They also asked to be sent back to Napak to start a new life with their children.
The court accepted their pleas since KCCA prosecutor Hillary Musiimenta left it to the court's discretion to hand an appropriate punishment. Karakire noted that the offence of sending children to beg on the streets is so rampant but considered the mothers' plight some of whom are widows and have no source of income to look after the children.
Although the offence attracts a maximum jail term of six months upon conviction, the magistrate ordered that they be returned to Napak for rehabilitation and also do community service as a punishment. He further cautioned them against sending their children back to the streets.
The court also ordered that in case the mothers fail to serve their punishment, they will be jailed for one month. This is not the first time that the Karamojong mothers have been convicted by the same court over the same charges.
In August 2022, grade one magistrate Jane Tibagonzeka found a group of 25 women from the Karamoja sub-region guilty of sending their children on the streets to beg and sentenced them to serve a jail term of three months.
In June 2022, KCCA passed a Children's Protection Ordinance which makes it punishable for one to send children on the streets to beg. The same law criminalizes children loitering in public places soliciting for money, vending, or hawking and it also bans the sale of alcohol to children. According to the ordinance, anyone who breaches this law will be jailed for six months or pay a fine of two currency points (Shs 40,000) or both.
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