MITYANA DISTRICT, UGANDA: Mityana district authorities are concerned about the persistent number of juvenile offenders in the area. The rates have been attributed to domestic violence and the ongoing closure of schools.
The district registered 187 criminal juvenile offences in the financial year 2020-2021 compared to 168 cases recorded in the previous year. These include cases of aggravated robbery, murder, and sexual offences like incest and defilement, among others committed by minors aged 15 and 16.
“These cases have increased and are expected to exceed 200 because the children are at home engaging in drug abuse and computer misuse,” Mityana District Information Officer Edward Muganga said, adding that the record, however does not include cases that are not reported to the probation office.
According to Muganga, many of the juveniles are used by adults to commit the said crimes, noting that for every 10 cases, seven are committed by adults through juveniles.
Criminal responsibility in Uganda starts at age 12. But authorities say that the absence of rehabilitation centres in the districts complicates the pursuit of juvenile justice. At the moment, all juvenile offenders from Mityana are taken to either Kampala or Mpigi districts, yet the police are constrained to follow up cases in distant centres.
However, Wamala Regional Police spokesperson Rachel Kawala says that many offences committed by juveniles do not result in prosecution because some of the offended persons are relatives or parents of the offenders and opt to pardon them before the law takes its course. She says that in the months of June and July, only two juvenile offenders were arraigned before the court where one was convicted of theft and another charged for assaulting a mother.
Mityana District Chairperson Patrick Mugisha Nshimye blames the cases on parents who have remained negligent at a time when children are idle, following the closure of schools. Mugisha appealed to the church and cultural leaders to play a role in instilling values and morals among the children.
“Most of the juvenile offenders are being persuaded by other criminal adults especially in Buswabulongo village in Mityana municipality where there is a group of juveniles attacking people on the road and homes and some commit capital offences intentionally helped by elders knowing that children cannot be sentenced to heavy punishments,” he lamented.
Rosemary Nazimbe, the District Senior Probation and Welfare Officer said that the suspension of schools due to the Covid-19 pandemic is one of the major factors that has led to the rise of juvenile offenders. She identified poverty and living in dangerous neighborhoods leads children to engage in criminal activities committed mostly in urban areas compared to the rural areas.
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