4 , Monday, January 21, 2019 NATIONAL NEWS Mutilation Abuse Lawlessness Unicef

By Betty Amamukirori happening in .

A dark cloud is hanging over Fighting the vice Kween district. Armed gangs FMG was made a crime in have for the past two months Armed gangs in Kween in 2010. The offence, been terrorising communities under the Prohibition of FGM and are forcefully mutilating Act, attracts a maximum girls. sentence of 10 years for Multiple sources, including committing the act and seven Members of Parliament years for abating it. from the Sebei region, told forcibly mutilating girls Mangusho said districts New Vision yesterday that in Sebei region passed since December 1, last year, ordinances outlawing FMG communities in Kween are and in 2016, they arrested living in fear, watching some of the proponents of helplessly as their daughters Lawrence Cherop FGM, but these were pardoned are dragged out of their homes Mangusho, the Kween on grounds that they were first and subjected to Female County MP, said the time offenders. Genital Mutilation (FGM) situation has been made The local leaders and civil in broad daylight by the worse by a section of society organisations have menacing gang. the elite from the Sebei been engaged in campaigns region, who are openly against FMG. November 30 is Done in broad daylight encouraging Female gazetted as a cultural day to Lawrence Cherop Mangusho, Genital Mutilation through spread anti-FGM messages. the Kween County MP, social media groups, such This year, the event was described the act as a “brutal as the Kopot-Sabiiny delayed and it took place uprising”, whose trigger he and Sebei Development in on January 18. does not know. Initiative. “The elite Rebecca Kadaga, the Speaker He said it started as a stealth Sabiiny are promoting of Parliament, was the guest of act done at night, but steadily it, yet they should be honour. progressed to being done the ones leading the FGM has traditionally been in broad daylight under the campaign against it,” he rampant in the districts of watch of everyone, including said. Kapchorwa, Bukwo, Kween, the Police. Nakapiripirit, Moroto and “At first they were doing it at ELITE Amudat. Normally girls are 3:00am, 4:00am and before subjected to FMG at the age of we knew it, they had gathered 12 years. courage and were doing it FUELLING openly at 8:00am,” he said. Dangers of FGM The gangs move in groups Girls in a procession before being mutilated. Courtesy photo FGM Unicef in its 2017 report of about 100 people, wielding revealed that three in every pangas, sticks and other sharp When Police tried to intervene, when everyone is at home. suffered genital mutilation. The sub-county also borders 10 females in these areas instruments, which they use to they charged at them and During the month, activities, Two of the girls were arrested West Pokot in Kenya and the are circumcised. Moroto threaten whoever tries to stop overpowered them,” the including circumcision and for denying undergoing the borders are porous. (52%) registered the highest them, he added, explaining that legislator added. marriages, take place. act. Chelimo said the illiterate proportion, while Kapchorwa the local authorities and Police Another source, who He explained that male “When we took them to communities are taking had the lowest (13%). are watching on helplessly as preferred anonymity said at circumcision takes place only hospital to verify their claims, advantage of the porous border According to the World the gangs brutalise the young one time a female Police officer in even years and before the medics confirmed that to hire circumcisers from Kenya Health Organisation girls. tried to intervene, but the gang FGM was outlawed, female they had been mutilated. So to conduct the outlawed act. (WHO), FGM has physical, “It is so bad. It is like an threatened to circumcise her circumcision could take place we arrested them and their Each surgeon charges between health and psychological uprising and I do not know too. even during odd years. parents. They are in court. The sh74,000 and sh111,000 for consequences on the women. what is causing it. My phone Sources on ground estimated circumciser is still in hiding,” each girl. The consequences include is buzzing. I get calls every day that over 100 girls have been Other districts affected Chelimo said. “The vice had reduced, fear of sexual intercourse, that girls are being forced to brutally mutilated since New Vision has learnt that He said the most affected but I do not know why it is post-traumatic stress disorder, undergo circumcision and that December 1, 2018. other districts in the region are area is Riwo sub-county, which resurrecting,” he said. anxiety, depression, increased people are being threatened Mangusho said the district also affected, though not at the has low levels of education When contacted, the Bukwo risk of cervical cancer, severe with death.. authorities gazetted December same magnitude. and high poverty levels. The District Woman MP, Evelyn bleeding, infections and “It is worse in Kween. The 1 to December 31 as a month Reuben Paul Chelimo, the only primary school available Chemutai, denied knowledge infertility. The act interferes first open act was done near for cultural festivities in Sebei Kongasis County MP, said since is 20km away and there is no of any act of FGM in Bukwo, with the natural function of a the town council headquarters. region because it is a time December 1, nine girls have secondary school. insisting that it is only girl’s body. Museveni directs URA to install cargo scanners at border posts

By Henry Sekanjako the aid of scanners. money sector had not been affected by forced to remove after he learned he has finalised plans to construct a and Edward Kayiwa the tax. was frustrating Chinese investors in “campus” that will house all the Telecom companies on the spot “Mobile money has actually gone Tororo. various government agencies in one President Yoweri Museveni has The President also asked URA to up, because I am monitoring it,” He said he had laid a firm foundation place. directed the Uganda Revenue tighten its tax monitoring mechanisms, Museveni said. for integrity at URA during its , the URA Commissioner Authority (URA) to install cargo noting that Uganda is losing billions inception by recruiting people like General, said about sh7.4b, which was scanners at border posts across of shillings in revenue as a result of Eliminate bureaucracy Allen Kagina and . being spent on renting office space the country to avoid tax evasion by telecom companies underdeclaring To increase tax flow, Museveni asked “Get people of integrity, even if for URA in , will be saved traders. the volume of telephone calls. URA to avoid bureaucratic process they are not learned in taxation, annually, adding that the 22-floor Speaking during the commissioning “There has been a lot of evasion and not to frustrate taxpayers, they will learn. Do not start with building is equipped with the latest of the sh139b skyscraper, the home by telephone companies through especially members of the business professionalism. Professionalism and technology. of URA in Nakawa over the weekend, underdeclaring the telephone calls,” community and investors. use of technology can be learned According to URA, the building Museveni said wearing uniforms he stated, adding that URA relies on “Your job is to facilitate business later, start with integrity, that is where is designed to accommodate about cannot scare away smugglers. what the companies declare. and investment. Never waste the time the problem is,” Museveni stressed. 1,800 employees. “All borders must have scanners, Museveni said he had found a of the businesspeople, telling them The finance state minister, David not uniforms. Do not hide behind solution to the problem by acquiring come back later. They are not begging URA tower Bahati, said the new building will the budget. Tell the finance ministry a system that monitors the calls. He for anything. They are adding to Museveni hailed the tax body for enhance URA’s capacity to collect that you cannot do your work without warned that the telecom companies national wealth,” Museveni said. the construction of a magnificent revenue. scanners,” Museveni said. will be made to pay the taxes, where “This is for our survival and to get building, which he said will save the Bahati said over the years, revenue He revealed how during the bush they have been dodging. our children out of dependency. If Government lots of money. collection has risen from sh5b in 1986 war days, officials at the custom you are not ready to help, go do other He said the Government has to more than sh16 trillion in 2019. helped him smuggle guns into the Mobile money tax things,” the President added. been losing sh96b a year paying country. He pointed out that there are Scoffing at the critics of the mobile Museveni cited one URA rent for central government offices. Read more on URA goods that can only be detected with money tax, Museveni said the mobile commissioner, whom he said he was He revealed that the Government on pages 37-56 4 NEW VISION, Tuesday, January 22, 2019 NATIONAL NEWS Intelligence Upsurge Superstition What is driving FGM in Kween? Police deploys in Kween By Benjamin Mark Sabila Reports say between December 2018 and January 2019 girls and women who have undergone FGM are in the range of 400 in Kween district alone. What has shocked communities and local leaders is the ferocity to fight genital mutilation with which FGM has taken place — in broad daylight and without fear of the authorities. “We all believed FGM was dead and By Betty Amamukirori buried. I have not seen any girl or woman undergoing the practice at least in the last A team of crime intelligence 20 years. However, this year has taken me by officers have been dispatched surprise. In fact estimates from the Binyiny to Kween district to counter area indicate that close to 70 girls/women the sudden upsurge of Female have been cut,” Fred Toskin, a resident of Genital Mutilation (FGM), Rogers Kwobus l, Binyiny town council, said. Taitika, the Sipi region Police But what is driving this upsurge? spokesperson, has said. “We have redeployed crime Witchcraft intelligence officers from Bukwo A source alleged that cases of FGM in Kween and Kapchorwa to reinforce the district are due to witchcraft. “There is a team in Kween. They are now woman — an FGM surgeon, who moves camped in the district to ensure the with herbal medicine. Whenever she greets perpetrators of this act are dealt any uncircumcised woman, they become with,” he said. hypnotised and go crazy until the genitalia Speaking to the New Vision has been cut,” the source says. yesterday, Taitika acknowledged that the crime had been going on, Peer pressure but that they had not received any For one to be taken for an adult, according complaint from the residents. to the Sabiny tradition, one must have been “We have not received any circumcised, irrespective of the fact that he is complaint at Kween Police Station. a man or woman. These people think FGM is part of “The Sabiny take circumcision seriously. their culture and hence they see no It is what qualifies one to be an important need to report it,” he said. Girls in a procession before being mutilated. Courtesy photo member of society. In fact one cannot become Taitika said the tough penalty a leader if they are not circumcised. They are stipulated in the 2010 anti- year. not even allowed to speak in a public place... FGM law has driven most of the As if sending a daring message Whoever wants to stop FGM must always communities into silence, with Explaining the upsurge, Diana Kagere, the communication to the security officers and the have this in mind,” says Edward Kissa, an many choosing to shield the and advocacy officer at the Centre for Domestic Violence local leadership, Mangusho said elder from Ngenge sub-county and a Bible perpetrators from prosecution. prevention (CEDOVIP), said FGM is cherished among the the first act to be done in broad translator. “When they look at the penalties Sabiny and is considered a rite of passage for women. daylight was near Kween town under the law and weigh it against “There are many stereotypes about the practice. There is a council headquarters. Superstition their culture, they opt to shield the belief that women who are not cut are promiscuous and have According to a local leader, who preferred perpetrators,” he said. bad omen,” Kagere said. Injuring girls anonymity, the bulk of those who were In , Taitika said the She said there is also general discrimination of those who are According to the World Health circumcised in the 2018-19 season are situation normalised when one of not cut. They cannot take up leadership positions, are regarded Organisation (WHO), FGM is a married women as opposed to girls under 18. the perpetrators was arraigned in as the cause of poverty, disease, among other bad things. procedure that intentionally alters “Some women believe the reason why they court and sentenced to five years Alain Sibenaler, the UNFPA representative in Uganda, noted or causes injury to the female are single mothers is because they are not in jail on December 12, last year. that the upsurge does not mean that the communities have genital organs for non-medical cut. Those who have been divorced believe suddenly forgotten the far reaching consequences of FGM and reasons. It involves partial or total that had they been circumcised, they would Old women leading gang it does not erase the milestones made in the fight against it. removal of the external female be enjoying happy marriages,” he says. The New Vision has been receiving “We have over 200 communities that have abandoned genitalia. reports from Kween district that the practice to date. The prevalence has also come down WHO notes that FGM has Police laxity? gangs, led by older women, are from 1.4% in 2011 to 0.3% according to the 2016 Uganda physical, health and psychological According to the Kween district Police forcibly mutilating girls under the Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS),” he said. consequences on the women and commander, Dennis Musinguzi, they do not watch of the local leaders and Sibenaler said they have dispatched a fact finding team to can sometimes lead to death. have any culprits in their custody. “We had to Police. Kween, which they hope will provide more information on this Due to the dangers it poses to the weigh the gravity of the problem and losing Sources on ground that preferred unexpected upsurge. natural function of a girl’s body, lives. If we had used our powers to intervene, anonymity due to the sensitivity it was internationally declared a several lives would have been lost. The of the matter, said the gangs are human rights abuse. community worked together and whisked armed with machetes and threaten MISCONCEPTION In Uganda, efforts have been off the victims. By the time we arrived, they to kill whoever tries to intervene. made by the international were nowhere to be seen. All evidence was The sources say menacing gangs organisations, civil society destroyed. However, for future incidents, move in a group of over100 people provide security. Parliament, confirmed to New organisations, government and we have called in some reinforcement from and the older women lead the Lawrence Cherop Mangusho, Vision on Sunday that the heinous faith-based organisations towards the UPDF. We are more prepared this time pack, while armed men follow to the Kween County Member of act started on December 1, last ending the practice. round,” Musinguzi says. Vision Group TV stations to air liberation movie ‘27 Guns’ By Apollo Mubiru Walungama, said. the film will give the viewer a Museveni organised the president Apollo Milton Obote. youthful president (Museveni) Vision Group, Uganda’s story of a young man and his National Resistance Movement The movie tells the five- is actor Arnold Mubangizi, On the eve of the National leading media house, boasts group of young idealists, who and National Resistance Army year guerrilla warfare that while Sezi Jedediah Resistance Army (NRA) 33rd of four television stations — left all to fight for salvation of (NRM/NRA) to oppose the climaxes with the overthrow of Nuwewenka plays a young Liberation Day anniversary, Bukedde TV 1, Bukedde TV the nation. tyranny that previous regimes government in January 1986. Salim Saleh (Gen. Caleb Vision Group TV stations will 2, TV West and Urban, an The young men, led by had unleashed upon the The historical movie Akandwanaho), the President’s air the 27 Guns film. English channel which targets President Yoweri Kaguta population. was produced by the First brother. “All the four television stations the youth audience. Museveni, set off with little more A small group of fighters on Daughter, Natasha Karugire Kabamba remains a landmark will broadcast the movie on than discipline and courage, February 6, 1981 armed with and her sister Diana Museveni in the five-year liberation war Friday, January 25, 2019 at About the movie buoyed by the indomitable 27 guns and pistols, attacked Kamuntu stars in it. She plays as a place where the first bullet 2:30pm. A repeat will be on The 27 Guns is a biopic based spirit of an oppressed people Kabamba Military Barracks, the role of her mother, Mrs was fired to cause change Sunday between 10:00am and on true events of Uganda’s and launched a protracted launching an armed struggle Janet Museveni. through armed struggle by a 1:00pm,” the head of TV, Mark liberation struggle. The relay of guerrilla war. against the regime of then Playing the character of the small group of daring fighters. 4 NEW VISION, Wednesday, January 23, 2019 NATIONAL NEWS Arrests Outlawed Discrimination Police arrest 19 in Kween for aiding genital mutilation Josepha Ndamira during the meeting of judges at Vision Group headquarters By Betty Amamukirori discriminated against and labelled on Monday. Photo by Karim Ssozi as curses responsible for all the Nineteen people have been bad things happening in the arrested for aiding and abetting community. Top 40 under 40 Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) In a recent interview, Lawrence in Kween district. Cherop Mangusho, the Kween According to Rogers Taitika, the County Member of Parliament, winners selected Sipi region Police spokesperson, said some of the girls gave in due these were arrested on Monday to pressure from the elderly, who By Prisca Baike night during a joint operation by see them as unworthy and useless. the Police and Uganda People’s Sources say women, particularly Uganda’s 40 most powerful and infl uential Defence Forces (UPDF). those in tumultuous marital people below 40 years of age have been Taitika said out of the 19 arrested, relationships and single mothers, identifi ed, bringing the New Vision’s 2018 16 were men and three women. blame their predicaments on their Top 40 under 40 competition to an end. One of the women, Irene Cherop, refusal to undergo mutilation. The selection followed hundreds of 50, is being accused of mentoring “We are really trying to help these nominations, out of which 80 individuals the girls and preparing them for Kween County MP Mangusho Speaker Kadaga girls understand that even without were profi led in the Sunday Vision since mutilation. She is also believed to being circumcised, they can still November last year. The Top 40 (20 women be the ringleader of the group. become important people in their and 20 men) were picked from these. The Police refused to divulge communities and the country at The nominees’ profi les were scrutinised details of the remaining 18, saying According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), FGM is large,” Mangusho said. by a select panel of fi ve judges consisting of they are still investigating, but a procedure that intentionally alters or causes injury to the previous top 40 under 40 winners, including sources say some were dancers female genital organs for non-medical reasons. It involves Kadaga intervenes 2016 winners Josepha Tibendarana Ndamira, during the violent processions. partial or total removal of the external female genitalia. Yesterday, the Speaker of the director of audit and assurance at WHO notes that FGM has physical, health and psychological Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, Trademark East Africa and Samuel Mwogeza, Residents join fi ght consequences on the women and can sometimes lead to death. demanded that the Government the chief fi nance offi cer of Stanbic Bank “On Monday, we opened a general In Uganda, FGM has been rampant in the districts of tables an action plan to combat Others are Janet Bugembe, the founder of inquiry fi le and residents have Kapchorwa, Bukwo, Kween, Nakapiripirit, Moroto and Amudat, FGM. Mentorship Class and Donald Waigumbulizi, been stealthily coming here to avail with the beginning age being 12 years. “Reports of an upsurge in FGM the managing director of Ericsson Uganda, us with information regarding the in Sebei are distressing, given who both won the competition in 2017 plus whereabouts of the perpetrators,” the fact that President Yoweri Paul Busharizi, New Vision’s public editor. Taitika said. bad practice Museveni in 2009 launched a “We were looking for star performers, who He said although they are still campaign against the vice. We are also doing something extra to impact interrogating the suspects, they demand a plan of action from the society positively,” Busharizi said. have already gathered enough the back. Kosir sub-county, Binyiny town Government on this issue. We The project falls under Vision Group’s evidence from the communities The practice started on December council, Kaptum sub-county and cannot allow Ugandan girls to be Ugandans Making a Difference, a campaign pinning them on abetting the 1,2018. Over 400 women, mostly Kaproron town council. mutilated, yet we have a law that aimed at presenting role models to the youth. crime and that they are going the married ones, have been Taitika said they are receiving outlaws it,” Kadaga said in her to prosecute them under the mutilated. intelligence reports from the statement preceding the plenary Rigorous process Prohibition of Female Genital Sources on ground say the people in the communities and session. Ndamira, who described the judging process Mutilation Act 2010. gang took advantage of the male that they are following these leads Karooro Okurut, the Minister of as rigorous and transparent, said key Under the Act, abetting FGM circumcision season to cut the to ensure that all the perpetrators General Duties in the Offi ce of attributes in the selection process included attracts a maximum jail sentence women. December is the gazetted are brought to book. the Prime Minister, promised the uniqueness, charisma and sustainability of of seven years. month for circumcision in the He said since the arrests on requested action plan “soon”. the venture. Sebei region and for men, it is Monday night, the district is now Unicef in its 2017 report revealed The list of winners will be announced in Armed gangs always done in the even years. calm, with no major incidents. He, that three in every 10 females this week’s Sunday Vision, according to the The arrests follow New Vision’s Before FGM was declared a crime however, added that they were are circumcised in the region, competition organiser and Sunday Vision exclusive report on gangs that have punishable by law, the women and doing all they could to fi nd out with registering editor, Penlope Nankunda. been terrorising villages in Kween girls as young as 12 years would what led to the sudden upsurge of the highest rate at 52%, while “Unlike the winners, unsuccessful district and forcibly mutilating undergo the cultural practice each the practice in the district. Kapchorwa had the lowest (13%). participants can be nominated again in women. The gangs move in year, unlike the men who were It stated that the prevalence of subsequent competitions. This year’s groups of about 100 people, led confi ned to only even years. Women stigmatised FGM among females increases competition date will be announced later this by older women, while the men, Some of the areas where the Activists attribute the upsurge with age and it is highest among year,” Nankunda said. brandishing machetes, follow at practice is pronounced include to unmutilated women being females aged 40 years and above. Trouw Nutrition to sponsor Harvest money expo CORRECTION Robert Galusanja Kibirango By Joshua Kato Other sponsors of the expo is the chairperson of NAADS’ so far include the Embassy of board of directors, not NAADS As excitement about the the Netherlands, dfcu Bank, chairperson as reported in the 2019 Harvest Money expo Adritex and Abi-trust. story, ‘Government procures grows, Trouw Nutrition, a tractors for farmers’ that Netherlands-based livestock About Trouw Nutrition was published on page 6 of nutrition group has come on Trouw Nutrition is a global yesterday’s paper. board as one of the sponsors OverHARVEST MONEY200 EXPO 2019 LOGO.PDFexhibitors have leader in animal nutrition and of the 2019 expo. booked space to exhibit at is part of the Nutreco Group The New Vision strives to make Trouw is sponsoring the the expo. According to the of Companies. Trouw has expo through their local organisers, gates open at been at the heart of the animal its coverage accurate. If you products distributor — 6:00am and close at 6:00pm. nutrition business in the have a question about the Champrisa International Visitors will pay sh10,000 for world since 1931, producing accuracy of our stories, contact Limited. a tour of the exhibition and nutritional products and us at [email protected] The Harvest Money expo sh10,000 to attend all the Chris Magezi of Champrisa showing some of their feeds supporting them with tailor- or write to: The Accuracy Co- starts on February 15 up to 17 day’s training sessions. made models and services in ordinator, The New Vision, P.O. at Mandela National Stadium, “We have decided to be part value it adds to the agricultural the technical sales manager of poultry, ruminant, swine and Box 9815, Kampala Namboole in . of the expo because of the sector,” Samuel Ssewagudde, Trouw Nutrition Uganda said. fi sh production. 10 NEW VISION, Tuesday, January 29, 2019 Regional NEWS

Kween

By Betty Amamukirori The Sabiny have blamed the current Sabiny blame upsurge in upsurge of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in the districts of Kween and Bukwo on unfulfilled promises by the Government and non-state organisations. The locals say that when the FGM on unfulfilled promises Government and organisations such as Action-Aid Uganda and Reproductive Health, started the fight against the practice, a lot of promises What should be done were made, but never fulfilled. “These people came here, asked us David Okello, a cluster co- to form women groups with promise ordinator in the Sebei region, of empowering us financially. We did says there is need to bring the all this, but all we got were sodas and leaders together to discuss biscuits on each visit. So, we went factors that drive FGM and back to our old ways,” says Eunice engage the community in its Chelimo, a mother of three. fight. Chelimo says they even collected He says the locals should money in order to register their groups be given an alternative and handed the names to Reproductive source income, especially the Educative and Community Health circumcisers who make a living programme (REACH), a local civil from the practice. organisation, but nothing was done. The Sabiny women say Moses Nyokos, the assistant the fighters against the Resident District Commissioner, says practice should involve their the traditional circumcisers were men in their sensitisation promised grinding machines, through programmes. which they would earn income, Being a patriarchal but government failed to fulfill the community, women believe promise, prompting them to go back that once their men realise to mutilating girls, which procedure that the practice is bad, they earns them between sh30,000 and will support their decisions not sh50,000 per girl. Pokot girls take an oath against FGM during Culture Day celebrations in Kween district in 2010 to get involved in FGM. The locals say they were promised schools, but the only school the be at the forefront of the fight against to ensure that the practice stops. Government built was Kwosir Girls’ FGM, they are not supported to do so. ActionAid, one of the organisations failing because the local leaders Secondary School, where education is “Last year, they promised us money BETWEEN THE LINES that has a branch in Kapchorwa, has spearheading the anti-FGM campaign not free. for field work but they did not deliver. n Government passed the even built a shelter for sexual and are committed to their custom and “Money to fight FGM does not So, we have no energy to move around Prohibition of FGM Act in 2010. gender-based violence victims. only pretend to denounce it because reach the villages, it is shared by a few campaigning against FGM,” she said. According to the Act, one However, the campaign, according to they hope to get some money. people at the district. We are charged gets a maximum of 10 years the locals, does not reach the intended FGM practice disguised Risk of FGM practice sh250,000 per term at the only girls imprisonment for committing audience. school we have in Kwosir. People are Although FGM became more the offence and seven years for Traversing trading centres and According to the World Health frustrated and have decided that we pronounced recently in Kween abetting it. political offices, one see no sign of an Oranisation (WHO), FGM involves continue with our cultural practices,” district, activists against the practice anti-FGM campaign. There are even partial or total removal of the external says Ambrose Bomet, a farmer. say other districts carry it out without no posters. female genitalia using unsterilised He says a few people benefited being noticed. The locals say most of them have blades. when the REACH programme started. In Kapchorwa, girls are allegedly Health Survey (DHS) puts national been left out in these campaigns. They It has physical, health and However, in its fourth year, they would disguised as boys and circumcised prevalence of FGM in girls and say they mostly listen to Kenyan radio psychological consequences on the only give sh500 to each person on together to avoid being caught. women (aged 15-49 years) at 1.4% stations, which do not have anti-FGM women. These include over bleeding each field visit. In Bukwo district, the women are (DHS, 2011). But in north eastern programmes. that can lead to death, infections, Stephen Barnan, the secretary for taken to Kenya for the procedure. Uganda, a 2017 UNICEF survey found “When you call a meeting in the permanent disability, increased risk of disability, says most women have They say in Bukwo they use Kenyan a prevalence of 27%. village, you need posters to explain cervical cancer and infertility. chosen to continue with the practice traditional circumcisers, who are paid the gravity of the practice, but we do The locals believe that with after being left out of the programme. approximately $50 (about sh180,000) Anti-FGM campaign not have financial support,” a resident the education of girls, economic Susan Cherop, a councillor at Kwosir for each woman. Government and NGOs have been says. empowerment and mass sensitisation, sub-county, said although they should The most recent Demographic working tirelessly in the three districts He says the fight against FGM is the practice can be stopped. o ro

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S n Kamuli NRM chairperson jailed over defilement d

W Kamuli E N The arrest followed By Tom Gwebayanga Who is Bamwole? The NRM chairperson, l A teacher by profession, an sms Bamwole Samuel Bamwole, missed celebrating Bamwole joined politics as the Tororo goons torch the 33rd NRM anniversary in Tororo, district youth councillor for allegedly sent to the as he was behind bars in Kamuli Kamuli, before becoming the Central Police Station for allegedly district councillor for Nawanyago residents’ houses defiling a 13-year-old. sub-county. victim’s phone Bamwole, the former LC5 l In 2008, he became the Residents of Angorom chairperson for Kamuli and former district speaker (200 -2010) and ● villages in district speaker, was arrested in Jinja later acting LC5 chairperson the message to the girl, saying his are living in fear after on Wednesday last week. after Ahmed Kawugu Mugaino shamba boy requested to use his unidentified goons started He was briefly held at Jinja Central lost the seat over academic phone. burning houses at night. Eight Police Station before being moved to papers (2011-2013). He also protests the girl being 13 houses have so far been burnt Kamuli, awaiting to be arraigned in l He was elected NRM years, having repeated Senior Two late in the night when the court this week. chairperson in 2014, a position he twice. He also cited political intrigue owners are asleep. The goons The arrest was effected after the has held to date. in the matter. have also dropped letters in victim’s parents allegedly called “With the party and general elections the village indicating that Bamwole for negotiations, because getting near, my foes are working 40 houses will be razed by the victim was in a poor health state He said Bamwole could not be statements,” Kasadha said tirelessly to bring me down,” he said. August. James Onyango, the following an abortion, which was released on bond and that the case The arrest followed an SMS which The victim, according to sources, is Angorom LC1 chairperson, said allegedly facilitated by Bamwole. file is yet to be sanctioned by the state Bamwole allegedly sent to the victim’s still undergoing medical care at an they have reported the matter The Busoga North Police attorney. phone a fortnight ago, which made the undisclosed facility in Jinja. to Police in order to restore spokesperson, Michael Kasadha, “The file is lacking some information, parents suspicious. Kasadha said the NRM bigwig might calm in the three villages. confirmed the arrest. including the victim’s and parents’ However, Bamwole denies sending face a defilement case.