How scattered water sources, culture have increased teenage pregnancies in Rwenzori

A 14 year old mother in Bugoye, Ibanda, Kasese district attends a seminar for teenage mothers. Photo by Moris Mumbere

BY FELIX BASIIME

& MORIS MUMBERE

OCTOBER 30, 2019

UGANDA: Long distance to safe water sources in some parts of the Rwenzori sub region, in Western Uganda and culture has increased teenage pregnancies according to local leaders.

Kasese district chairman, Mr Sibendire Bigogo said that young girls trek long distances to fetch water after classes and along the way they is defiled.

He said that teenage pregnancy and early marriages are highest in Maliba, Bwesumbu, Bugoye, Munkunyu, Kitswamba, Kyabarungira, Buhuhira and Kyalhumba sub counties in the hilly Busongora north.

“We shall start arresting men who lure these young girls and the rest will learn and fear to engage in such useless early marriage issues” Sibendire said.

Bigogo that he was shocked at Kitswamba Health Center III last month where he found girls between 14 to 16 years having three or more children.

“Of course these girls were actually defiled but most of them don’t report to authorities including police” Bigogo noted.

Daily Monitor found, Ms Bridget Biira, 18 at Kitswamba Health Center III where she had come for medical checkup.

The mother of three children said that she was defiled at the age of 16 while as she fetched water at a well in the evening. She was then in primary six and was forced to drop out of school.

A midwife at the facility who preferred anonymity said that at least 15 young girls are received daily for antenatal care.

Most residents we talked to attributed the problem to scarcity of water in the area which they said forces many children to trek long distances in search of water.

Mr Swaibu Mujungu, a teacher at Kitswamba SDA primary school said that young girls in the area were being waylaid on the way home by people luring them into immature relationships.

Medical records at Kitswamba Health Center III show that in July those who attended Antenatal clinic at the age between 10-19 were 17 women, in August were 11 women while in September were 10.

“Therefore this indicates that in a period of 3 months a total of 38 teenage pregnancies and subsequently early marriages were registered in Kiwamba Sub County alone” observed Ms Angela Byangwa, the Executive Director Rwenzori Anti-Corruption Coalition (RAC).

Teachers blamed

Parents in Mukunyu Sub County, the leading sub county in early marriages have blamed teachers as key in abating the problem in the area.

“The situation in our villages is so scaring, during evening preps and night winters for learners, most teachers and head teachers don’t wake up to monitor and supervise how the children behave, teachers spend more time with our children than we parents, what they plan during school days is not known to some of us, most of the bad characters are trained from schools yet we parents sent innocent children to schools” Mr Semu Bikasobera, a parent said.

Mr George Mayinja, the district education officer said it is true some teachers have been accused of sexual harassment of girls in schools and urged head teachers to be vigilant and do what is expected of them since they are the first inspectors in schools.

Leaders in Nyamwamba division in Kasese municipality said there is a high number of younger mothers and defilement and attributed it to poverty, domestic violence and culture.

 “In Konjo culture a female is capable of forming a family at 15 years” said the Nyamwamba division chairman, Mr Sayidi Kisuki, adding, “This is evidenced when mothers tell their children how they got married to their fathers between 14 and 18 years”.

Poor structures

However some residents attributed increase in teenage pregnancies to some parents who share their small rooms with children who in turn tend to discover and copy from their parents.

The vice chairperson for Kitswamba Sub County, Ms Naume Muthanaba said the challenge of early marriages in Kasese district can be addressed only if parents met their obligations, if residents are sensitized on the value of education, dropping cultural beliefs and practices, and if residents learnt to respect the rights of children.

She said that in the densely populated area of Railway Parish, parents have continued to share single rooms with their children. She said this has led to children to practice sexual issues copying from the parents who no longer have secrecy.

Distant health centers

The furthest person to access Railway health center II is at 6 Km. women have to trek long distances under the hot temperatures to access services like Antenatal, Immunisation according to a September report by RAC.

According to Ms Nyakato Constance, the councilor for Central division, Kasese municipality, there are increased cases of defilement, early marriages, and teenage pregnancies.

“Parents have only detected defilement after the occurrence of pregnancy. This means every defilement case is presented with teenage pregnancies in Railway Parish. All cases of defilement are concealed and silently happening with the knowledge of any of the parents”.

Ray of hope

Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group (CSBAG) with support from UN Women is implementing Budgeting for Gender and Equity Project (B4GE) in Kasese, Abim and Kampala, Amuria, Gulu and Kitgum. B4GE project will enhance capacities of gender and women rights networks and institutions to effectively demand for gender equality and women empowerment (GEWE) commitments in the Government budgets. The project has been running from July and will end in December.

The project which is also partnered with RAC advocates for gender and women rights networks and institutions to demand for gender responsive service delivery, access to equal opportunities and empowerment of women and girls’ commitments in line with global norms and standards.

UN Women is the United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.

Other Interventions

Of recent, six schools in Kasese district have been selected as pilot to champion control of early child marriages in the district.

“We {Kasese} are known in the whole country as the leading district in early child marriage and as leaders we decided to identify few schools which can work as samples for others in educating them on better behaviors to reduce the child marriage virus in the district” said Ms Rebbecca Kabugho, the Executive director Girl empowerment foundation.

Kabugho said that there are lots of negative stories and statistics about girls in the district which are alarming and the district leaders had to act first to reduce the growing habits of early marriages in young girls to have a better future.

The selected schools include Mbunga, Kimandama, Nyakazinga, Bunyandiko primary schools and Mt. Rwenzori girls and Royal rangers’ secondary schools which will be models for other schools and the young mothers in the community.

“The selected schools will work as sample schools for the entire community on teaching better safe ways to avoid child marriage in the district”.

Mr Godson Mumbere, the Executive Director Vision International Actors, an NGO in Kasese said that teenage mothers face several challenges that hinder their education performance like menstruation hygiene, forced marriage, gender based violence, abortion and use of excessive drugs to prevent pregnancy which are applied on their lives to suit in the community as well as avoiding challenges that put them to shame.

Mumbere whose NGO deals in sexual reproductive health rights explained that domestic violence, denial of food and forced marriages allegedly done by parents on young girls “has affected the girls physiologically and emotionally and most parents prefer boys education to girls which demoralize girls and decide anyhow yet as human beings we have equal rights”.

According to Uganda Bureau of Statistics, 2014, in Bukonjo County East, with a population of 165,067, females aged between 10 to 19 years who have ever been married were 2, 698, while females aged between 12 to 19 who had ever given birth were 2,590.

The same report shows that in Busongora north, with a population of 180,810, only 14, 410 people could access piped water and only 2,793 could access bore hole water.

Summary of some case categories reported in the last year 2018 in Kasese district

CASE	REPORTED	INVESTIGATED	CONVICTED
Forced marriage	2	2	2
Child marriage	9	7	5
Defilement	21 (9 boys 12 girls)	21	11
Child labour	7	7	3

Source: Kasese Central Police station

Summary of some case categories reported at Kasese Central Police station from January 1, 2019 to October 27, 2019

Case	Court going	Pending inquiry	Put away	Convicted
Aggravated defilement	14	07	00	00
Simple defilement	22	21	06	04
Attempted rape	00	00	01	00
Attempted defilement	00	01	00	00

Source: Kasese Central Police station

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Gorillas that migrated from Rwanda, a boost to Uganda’s tourism

A mountain gorilla and its family. Courtesy photo

BY FELIX BASIIME

& ROBERT MUHEREZA

OCTOBER 30, 2019

UGANDA: Last week about 20 gorillas from Hirwa family in Virunga Conservation area migrated from Rwanda side of the park to Mount Mgahinga Gorilla National park in south western Uganda.

This development will boost Uganda’s tourism according to business players in the sector.

Mr Pontius Izuma, the Manager Bwindi Mgahinga Conservation area in Kisoro district confirmed this development.

“Yes, the fact is that the Virunga area is the same ecosystem that covers parts of DR Congo, Rwanda and Uganda, and these wild animals find it easy to migrate within the same ecosystem, so there is always a movement” Izuma said.

An ecosystem is a community of living organisms in conjunction with the nonliving components of their environment, interacting as a system. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows.

Tourism is one of the top revenue contributors to Uganda’s economy, fetching the country $1.45b (about Shs5.3 trillion) last financial year.

Tour business

The executive director of Gatatu tours Safaris that takes tourists to Rwanda and Uganda, Mr Richard Tusasirwe expressed happiness that the migrated gorillas from Rwanda will boost his business.

He said that over 90 percent of tourists that come to Kigezi sub region come to see mountain gorillas in the Bwindi, Mgahinga national parks in Uganda and the volcanoes national park in Rwanda and the Virunga national park in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“I recently heard that a group of mountain gorrilas crossed from Rwanda to Uganda and i feel that the recent gun shots by rangers pursuing poachers in Nyungwe national park could have scared them” Tusasirwe said, adding that no single tourist can come to Bwindi and Mghahinga parks in Uganda when the mountain gorillas are no longer in that area.

Nyungwe National Park lies in southwest Rwanda, partly abutting the Burundi border. It's a vast area of mountain rainforest, home to many species of chimpanzees, plus owl-faced and colobus monkeys. The Canopy Walkway, part of the Igishigishigi Trail, is a high suspension bridge with views over the valley and surrounding forests. A trail runs to the Kamiranzovu Marsh, with its birdlife, orchids and waterfall.

According to Mr Bashir Hangi, the Uganda Wildlife Authority spokesman, “Wild animals don’t know boundaries of countries; the ecosystem is their home that crosses borders, so they can cross to either side, they don’t understand things of the borders”

Why migrate

Despite wild animals sharing the same ecosystem across borders, they are like humans, they can shift from habitat to another and take refuge in a safer place according to the threat or challenge they face at the time.

The threats or challenges range from poaching as some animals are hunted for food or treasure, climate change, to insecurity in a particular country like wars among others. For example, during Idi Amin’s regime and during the ADF war in Western Uganda, the population of elephants in Queen Elizabeth National park is said to have reduced after hundreds of them migrated to DR Congo for safety.

Mr Nelson Guma, the Chief Warden of Kibale Conservation Area observed that “Elephants mainly in Ishasha side, part of Queen Elizabeth National park, usually cross to DR Congo and back, the same as Bongo, an antelope in Semuliki national park, usually crosses to Virunga national park and back because it is the same ecosystem”

He added, “these animals are like humans, they also seek refuge where they find contort and where conditions are very conducive for them, so transboundaries always happen”

About Virunga

According to African Wildlife Foundation, an online publication, Virunga ecosystem, the mountain gorilla sanctuary is under threat despite being a greater biodiversity in Africa’s Albertine Rift region than in any other ecosystem in Africa. This richly diverse array of habitats is home to critical populations of the world’s last remaining mountain gorillas.

Along with its abundance of wildlife, Virunga National Park has an exceptional diversity of landscapes ranging from the glaciers of the Rwenzori Mountains, at over 5,000 meters, to impenetrable forests, savannas, rivers, and lake ecosystems. Virunga National Park lies in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, but mountain gorilla habitat extends across country borders to southwestern Uganda and northeastern of Rwanda, covering over 790,000 hectares.

The park’s magnificent volcanic mountain ranges and endemic species placed it on the UNESCO World heritage list in 1979. Political insecurity, poaching, and resource extraction landed the park on the List of World Heritage in danger, where the park’s status has remained since 1994.

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Hundreds of locals could be homeless along Karugutu-Ntoroko oil road over unfair compensations

WORRIED, Ms Mirirani Tingiramurungi stands on top of the debris of her old house in sorrows as she complted her new house in the in background in Karugutu town council. Photo by Felix Basiime

BY FELIX BASIIME

SEPTEMBER 27, 2019

NTOROKO: Ms Mirirani Tingiramurungi, 70, has lived in Karugutu town council for most of her life in an eight roomed permanent house along the Karugutu-Ntoroko 55 km road.

However, after Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) in early September 2019 gave a notice to over 80 households living along the Karugutu-Ntoroko oil road to vacate the road reserve in three months time, some of the residents including Tingiramurungi demolished their structures and started building new ones.

UNRA had compensated some but not all residents between June and August 2019 according to Mr Kyaligonza Abubakar, the chairman Grievance Management Committee (GMC) Karugutu Town Council.

Little did they know that after demolishing their structures under fear, the money they were given by UNRA as compensation won’t be enough to put up new structures of the same size or even relocate elsewhere and are now stranded.

“UNRA gave me a notice to vacate early this month, and out of fear I demolished my eight roomed house near the road, but the Shs 28 million they gave me as compensation in June has failed to put up a new structure of 8 rooms just few meters behind in my plot, it is now on the ring beam and money is over” Tingiramurungi in sorrows told Daily Monitor on Friday as she stood on top of the debris holding one of the iron bars left in the strong pillar of her old house.

When i visited most homes along the same road on September 27, the story was the same, all residents have failed to put up new structures and are crying foul over what they say was unfair compensation from government.

Tingiramurungi now lives in a makeshift small room under a tree that she used as her kitchen before.

“I have failed to complete my new structure and am now putting up in that small structure under a tree and when it rains I suffer from coldness, at my age I may die very soon” Tingiramurungi said, adding, “The government valuer was so cunning, he intimidated all of us to sign for the little money and when one would refuse he would threaten that he will deposit your money in court and road works will start, so we signed under duress”

Mr Kiiza David, 60, of Nyabuhura II village in Karugutu town council said he bought the plot along Karugutu-Ntoroko road at Shs 18 million in 2016 without any structures on it but that UNRA gave him the same amount in June when he has a house on it and has failed to set a new house.

“The engineers have computed bills of quantities and labour at Shs 35 million for the new house and I have failed now, so even if I get the money to put up a new house I will have lost my plot” Kiiza said.

Area councilor, Ms Olivia Mutamba said, “People have failed to build new houses in town using the money they got as compensation from government, in town we need well planned houses, the government valuer intimidated and threatened our people to sign for little money, even the disturbance fee was too little as Shs 2 million and things are very expensive now”

Mr Yahaya Tumusiime, the Community Process Facilitator under Kabarole Research and Resource Centre said, “The people fear court, most of them have never stepped in court, so by the government valuer telling then to sign or pick the compensation money from court as works go on was enough intimidation to force the people to sign for little money, these are defenseless and if government does not quickly intervene so many people will be homeless”

In a September 13 letter to the Manager UNRA regional branch, Mr Kyaligonza Abubakar, the chairman Grievance Management Committee (GMC) Karugutu Town Council said, “The cost of the pieces of land of the affected persons as showed by their land agreements were highly undervalued, the government valuer forced the affected persons to consent by signing for the compensations”  

However, when contacted over the threat of eviction and unfair compensation, the UNRA regional manager, Ms Rachael Ngonzebwa said, “We are going to meet the affected people soon and hear their complaints and see how we can solve them; the exercise of compensating is still going on”

Oil roads

Work on some of the 12 oil roads country wide started in April 2018 which all total measure 700kms. The roads are to facilitate the movement of oil and the equipment.

Karugutu lies along the Fort Portal–Ntoroko Road, where it meets the Fort Portal–Bundibugyo Road, west of the Tooro Semliki Game reserve.

UNRA has planned to upgrade the 55.4 kilometres Karugutu–Ntoroko Road (that leads to Kanywataba oil field) to class II bituminous surface, with culverts and drainage channels.

The road designs were completed and works may start in January 2020.

Oil roads under UNRA

Name	Length in Kms				Source of Funds
Paara-Pakwach	21.49
Kisanja Park jctn-Paara	71.27
Rwera-Kaseeta	15.43
Kibaale-Kiziranfumbi	25.11
Masindi-Biiso	48.77
Kyotera-Rakai	19.1
Villa_Maria_Sembabule_-_Lwemiyaga_junction	42.21
Hoima-Kaiso_Tonya	82.69
Lusalira_Nkonge-Lumegere	52.14
Buliisa-Paara	29.05
Sambiya-Murchison falls	12.33
Wanseko-Bugungu	21.22
Buhimba-Nalweyo-Bulamagi	50.49
Kabwoya-Kituti	41.32
Kakumiro-Nkondo-Kijaguza-Bulamagi	40.99
Karugutu-Ntoroko	55
Hohwa-Nyairongo-Kyarushesha	25
Hoima-International Airport

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