Mr Kamuntu (extreme  left) with a group of teen mothers who have been trained by Bantwana Innitiative in handcraft making as a source of income.

The Deputy RDC of Bunyangabu, Mr Robert Kamuntu, has cautioned community members against conniving with perpetrators of crimes against children. 

Mr Kamuntu made the remarks during the Child Wellbeing Committee meeting that sat at Kisomoro Sub-county headquarters. It was attended by the DISO, Mr Nobert Karamira; development partner, Bantwana Innitiative, and technical staff members from the departments of Education and Community Based Services.

Key on the agenda were updates from Kisomoro Sub County concerning teenage pregnancies, defilement cases, school dropouts and child neglect. During the meeting, it was established that whereas some child-related cases were being properly handled and resolved, others were remaining unresolved due to connivance between suspects, community members and parents of the victims. 

It also came to the attention of leaders that some church leaders were interfering with investigations into some criminal cases by encouraging praying for the suspects rather than apprehending them. 

Mr Kamuntu cautioned parents and church leaders against the vice, promising to work with security agencies to hunt for all the suspects and bring them to book. 

"Going forward, all stakeholders must be alerted about every single case as soon as it happens so that we follow it up to a conclusion," he said. 

It was also resolved that all parents and guardians failing to take their children to school should be arrested with immediate effect since they are failing the Government's goal of eradicating illiteracy. 

Furthermore, the committee visited a team of parents at Karambi B primary school, which had received support from Bantwana and saved up to Shs 8 million shillings in their group to ease financial access to the members. 

From Karambi, the committee members also met teenage mothers at Kibate Primary School who had been supported to engage in handcrafts. These disclosed that they were fetching some good income from their activities and were optimistic that life would become even better if they got more support.