Stop mediating defilement cases, Apac local leaders cautioned

13 November 2023, 8:09 pm

By Mike Okwang Ogule & Isaac Newton Abili

Local council and clan leaders have been warned against handling cases related to rape and defilement, a practice that has recently been common in some localities in Apac district.

Mr. Hillary Elong the Apac District acting probation officer says Local Council Is, IIs and IIIs courts need to forward such criminal cases to police and probation office noting their services are fully available to handle such cases.

According to Mr. Elong, handing rape and defilement related cases at local council courts are becoming very rampant in Apac District, adding that the leaders in question have no jurisdiction to handle them on time.

Elong said they are well trained with knowledge and practical skills in investigating and preventing gender base violence cases.

When contacted for comments, Francis Nickson Okol, the area Lc1 chairperson of Abwal A Village, Ongica Parish Chegere Sub County Apac district observed that low payment by government has forced local leaders to ask for bribe in the name of handling defilement cases, since they are at all time bankrupt.

David Abuc, the Alaro Village boss, on the other hand, said this comes after two affected parties agreed not to allow such cases be forwarded to police.

While speaking during a dedication prayer at Ololango Primary School recently, Sam Opira, the Apac District secretary health and education also a councilor representing Chegere Sub- County to the district council, warned parents against marrying off underaged girls during this coming dry season, saying the law will not spare them.

Child marriage and teenage pregnancy remain major social and public health issues in Uganda, with far-reaching implications for the wellbeing of children and adolescents. According to the most recent Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS 2016), 34 per cent of young women between 20 and 24 years old were either married or in a union before the age of 18, while 7 per cent were married before the age of 15.

The numbers are equally disturbing for teenage pregnancy, with approximately one-quarter of all Ugandan girls between the ages of 15 and 19 having already begun childbearing

Teenage pregnancy is a top cause of death among young girls in Uganda (UNICEF 2019). The country’s Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) stood at 336 deaths per 100,000 live births and regarding maternal mortality rates, 17.2 per cent of the deaths were among those aged 15-19 (UNFPA 2021).

Girls between the age of 15 and 19 years are twice (28 per cent) as likely to die during pregnancy or childbirth compared to women in their twenties; whereas those under the age of 15years are five times more likely to die (MoH 2018).