Abubaker Kirunda
11 November 2009
Police in Jinja are holding a key mobiliser with the ruling National Resistance Movement party for allegedly confining and starving 32 children aged between nine and 10.
Ms Florence Wepukhulu reportedly confined the minors in a mud-and-wattle house in a slummy Kikaramoja Zone at Walukuba, after collecting them from their impoverished families promising to offer them free education. She was arrested on Monday in an operation led by the Programme Coordinator for African Network on Prevention and Protection Against Child Abuse and Neglect, Mr Jimmy Obbo.
Her arrest followed complaints from neighbours to the Police. The emaciated children, whom she allegedly collected from Bugiri District for the "free study" at her St. Florence Primary School located within Kikaramoja area, were infested with jiggers and other skin diseases. Police say she convinced the parents that the school had donors who were ready to clear fees for the children.
Ms Wepukhulu, however, said yesterday that she intended to use the children to attract sponsorship from the donors. She also denied responsibility over children's accommodation and feeding, saying that was up to their parents. "For me I only provide education. Feeding and accommodation is a duty of the parents themselves therefore if you arrest me over such things then I don't understand you," she told the Police in Jinja.
The Jinja Municipal Inspector of Schools, Mr Steven Katankula, said Ms Wepukhulu has been using a wooden school with a population of 180 pupils without toilet facilities. "The school has no license but every time it is closed, politicians re-open it," he said.
The Acting Jinja O/C CID, Mr Gregory Okwi, said the suspect is likely to face charges including unlawful confinement of people in a small house. "We are investigating and once we finish, we shall present our charges to court as we take her file because this is a case involving children which may even attract child abuse charges," Mr Okwi said.
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