Bee venom: Earn while conserving forests

Katenta Apuuli (in coat) displays a bee venom collector to communities around Matiri forest reserve in Kyenjojo District. PHOTO BY FELIX BASIIME 

Adolf Bagonza started in a simple way as a beekeeper in Kabarole District 30 years ago, but eventually went for further training.

SUNDAY JANUARY 22 2017

http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/Farming/Bee-venom--Earn-while-conserving-forests/689860-3781616-13w0al3/index.html

In Summary

·         Bagonza says they already have the technology and the Korean government offered 50 per cent of their technology up to producing of injectable drugs, creams and even capsules. “We have the capacity of reaching there. But even without that, we can export the at a very good price to Korea although it costs more in the European market. However, it is not easy to get certification” Bagonza says.

·         The association wants government to allow the members to set up thousands of bee hives in Matiri forest reserve [in Kyenjojo District] for commercial bee keeping.

By Felix Basiime

Collecting bee venom, a highly demanded hive product can enable communities earn while conserving forests, writes

Adolf Bagonza started in a simple way as a beekeeper in Kabarole District 30 years ago, but eventually went for further training. He is now a trainer and researcher, who has found a way to conserve forests better while earning more. He connects beekeeping and conservation for commercial and health ventures.

Through his experience, he has found that when forests are gone, there will be no more apiaries.
The rate of deforestation in Kyenjojo and Kibaale districts is very high despite government efforts through various stakeholders including National Forest Authority (NFA).
“The moment these forests are gone there would be no more bees” observes Bagonza, the chairman Kabarole Beekeepers’ Association.

He says a way to end deforestation is for the locals to engage in beekeeping in the forest reserves so that they can gain financially and do away with cutting the forests.
“I would engage the beekeepers in these forests as I collect the bee venom and for them they gain in selling the honey,” he says.

“Rwenzori region has the best honey in the world, organic honey” observes Katenta Apuuli, a former ambassador, and now a member of the association.
It also carries a research in curing several diseases by using the bee venom.

The research
“I work with seven doctors who saw that bee venom can handle viral infections, cancer, flue, coughs, fibroids and others, It has worked on athritis and other many other complicated diseases,” he says. “It is now five years and we have been trying it and seen it can work”.
He says they lack a machine called a bee venom purifier. “If we could purify the bee venom, then we could have it in a clear form, which could be dissolved in clean water to make an injectable drug”.

Bagonza says they already have the technology and the Korean government offered 50 per cent of their technology up to producing of injectable drugs, creams and even capsules. “We have the capacity of reaching there. But even without that, we can export the at a very good price to Korea although it costs more in the European market. However, it is not easy to get certification” Bagonza says.

The association wants government to allow the members to set up thousands of bee hives in Matiri forest reserve [in Kyenjojo District] for commercial bee keeping. 
He adds, “We want to do commercial bee keeping where every beekeeper can set hundreds of bee hives and harvest kilogrammes of bee venom, hundreds of kilograms of honey, pollen, propolis and others and get millions every year and improve our livelihoods.”
Currently, there are five members are involved in bee venom production and they are able to collect 100 gms of bee venom every month.

Challenges
The association identifies two main challenges: An area to set beehives and work on them without disturbance. “Because when we set machines, bees become aroused and they can attack livestock and people,” Bagonza explains. 
The other is capital to buy equipment that they may not afford. This includes bee venom purifier and the harvesting machines. “We want very many; if we can have the purifier and other machines then we can be able to produce enough venom for export market,” he says. 
Bee extractor is Shs3m while the bee venom purifier is Shs150m.
They also want government to come in and do more research and scientific back up.
Eventually, under a Memorandum of Understanding, National Forest Authority allowed the beekeepers’ association to carry out activities in Matiri forest by mobilising the neighburing communities in their programmes.

The product

Since the mid-1950s, the electric shock method has been used to stimulate the bees to sting. The collector frame is usually placed at the entrance of the hive and connected to a device which supplies electrical impulses.
The collector frame is made from wood or plastic and holds a wire grid. Underneath the wires is a glass sheet which can be covered with a plastic or rubber material to avoid contamination of the venom. During collection, bees come in contact with the wire grid and receive a mild electric shock.

They sting the surface of the collector sheet as they see this to be the source of danger.
The venom is then deposited between the glass and the protective material where it dries and is later scraped off.
Honey bee venom is a colourless liquid. After drying, it is a white powder-like material if protected from oxidation. If it is not protected, oxidation will change the colour from white to brownish-yellow. Changes caused by oxidation of certain components of the venom may decrease its healing effect.

There are different kinds of venom such as: pure whole dried, whole dried and freeze-dried (lyophilised) bee venom. Pure whole dried bee venom is the purest venom. It is white in colour (often it is snow white), not contaminated with foreign materials and colourless when it is used in a solution.
If bee venom is protected from moisture and light it can be stored for five years or more.

Source: ibiblio.org

Local accounts on Kasese killings turn into blame game

Rwenzururu palace in flames after the attack. 

A probe by MPs into the clashes between a joint military force and the Rwenzururu royal guards that left at least 100 people dead on November 27 degenerated into a blame game, with supporters of rival parties accusing one another of inflaming the situation

TUESDAY DECEMBER 13 2016

(http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Local-accounts-on--Kasese-killings-turn-into-blame-game/688334-3485162-ehiali/index.html)

In Summary

Accusations. NRM ruling party supporters accused opposition leaders and supporters of orchestrating the clashes, while opposition supporters threw the blame back to the government

By FELIX BASIIME & MORIS MUMBERE

Kasese.

A probe by MPs into the clashes between a joint military force and the Rwenzururu royal guards that left at least 100 people dead on November 27 degenerated into a blame game, with supporters of rival parties accusing one another of inflaming the situation.

MPs on the Defence Committee of Parliament, who ended their two-day fact-finding tour in Kasese yesterday, heard mostly one-sided tales from the residents, who accused people they called “opposition supporters” of intimidating them from testifying.

The MPs led by Mityana District MP Judith Nabakooba had to supply pieces of paper for some residents who said they feared to speak openly to write down their submissions.

Perhaps in anticipation of what the fact-finding meetings could turn out like, Mr Thembo Kitsumbire, the Prime minister of the Rwenzururu kingdom had on Friday warned the committee against being “hoodwinked.”

“I want to warn that after we have talked to you, you will hear a lot of stories and lies, just be objective and pick out the truth,” Mr Thembo, who is charged with holding together the Rwenzururu Kingdom as King Charles Wesley Mumbere, serves out his remand pending trial.

King Mumbere was charged with murder and remanded after being arrested when the army stormed his palace in Kasese Town on November 27.

An estimated 100 people are reported to have died in the clashes, most of them the king’s royal guards.

The police say 137 royal guards were arrested during the military assault on the palace and are being detained at the high-security police detention centre at Nalufenya in Jinja District.

They have not been charged in court as required by law after more than two weeks since arrest. One of the “royal guards” who had been detained at Nalufenya, Bosco Bosco Mbusa Bwambale, 36, died at Bombo military hospital and the body was last week handed over to his family for burial.

Mr Mumbere’s arrest, detention and charging in court, after the violence and several deaths and heavy military deployment, have cast a shadow of fear over Kasese, which was visible as the MPs conducted their fact-finding mission.

NRM ruling party supporters accused opposition leaders and supporters of orchestrating the clashes, while opposition supporters threw the blame back to the government.

An observer in Kasese, who asked not to be named for fear of his security, said the meetings convened by the MPs were mainly attended by ruling NRM party supporters as most of the opposition supporters “remained in hiding”.

Our reporter, who on Sunday attended one of the meetings at Bwesumbu Sub-county, Busongora County North, Kasese District, said some known opposition supporters who tried to speak out during the meeting were shouted down by ruling NRM party supporters.

Ms Nabakooba, the chairperson of the Defence Committee, who chaired the meetings, later told journalists: “During our interactions with different people, they said that too much politics in the area is derailing peace efforts.”

But the opposition shadow minister for defence, who was part of the visiting team, said they had gathered “some concrete facts,” which he said they will use to write a report and “make concrete recommendations to government and to the people of Rwenzori and their leaders.”

Fresh ethnic clashes erupt in Kasese

President Museveni meets representatives of the different tribes in Kasese District at State House, Entebbe on Thursday. PHOTO BY PPU 

Two people have been shot dead and four soldiers critically injured in an attack in Hima town council in fresh ethnic violence in Kasese district

(http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Fresh-ethnic-clashes-erupt-Kasese/688334-3113330-format-xhtml-f6lx37z/index.html)

SATURDAY MARCH 12 2016

In Summary

Crisis. Police say attackers were holding deadly weapons.

By Enid Ninsiima, Moris Mumbere & Felix Basiime

KASESE. Two people have been shot dead and four soldiers critically injured in an attack in Hima town council in fresh ethnic violence in Kasese district.
The attacks are believed to have been triggered by ethnic conflicts stemming from the sub-county elections in the district this week in which the opposition again swept most of the seats. It is alleged that a group of more than 60 people armed with guns, spears and machetes on Thursday at around 10pm, attacked and speared three UPDF soldiers who were on night foot patrol at Kikonzo village, Kendahi Ward in Hima town council before the soldiers killed two in alleged self-defence.

The Regional Police Commander for Rwenzori East, Mr Bob Kagarura, confirmed the attack on Thursday night.
“We have been attacked by people from the mountains. As I speak, two people have already died and three of our soldiers are critically injured,” said Kagarura.

He said the attackers were holding deadly weapons such as guns, spears and pangas (machetes). Among the dead were commanders of the group that attacked the soldiers.
“As soldiers were on night patrol, a group of over 60 people singing Mai Mai and dressed in navy blue trousers and black new boots attacked them, started stabbing them on arms, backs and foreheads before soldiers defended themselves by killing two on the spot” said Mr Kagarura.

He identified the injured as Cpl Moses Ssentongo, Cpl Rwot Owengyo, Cpl James Otodde and Lance Cpl Matiya Senyonga all attached to Hima-Kaveera army barracks in Kasese. They were admitted to Kilembe Hospital. He said those who had guns among the attackers quickly disappeared while the rest vainly tried to grab guns from the soldiers.
The bodies of the attackers who are yet to be identified, were taken to Kilembe hospital. Other attackers reportedly vanished into the bushes.

“We have arrested four people in a cordon-and-search operation at night while others had been arrested earlier during the post-election demonstration that happened during the day,” Kagarura said.
He said earlier, security had sensed danger when many people started descending down to attack police posts, including Kithoma in Buhuhira sub-county.
Earlier on Thursday, police fired tear gas in Hima town as they tried to disperse crowds that had started burning houses in protests.

How it started 
The attacks came in a day after an independent candidate, Mr Tom Wabukombi, lost to the incumbent Mr Musana Katura (NRM) by 200 votes in the Hima Local Council chairperson elections.
Prior to the attack, a house of one of the supporters of Wabukombi was set ablaze after he was suspected to have caused the defeat of their candidate by allegedly having undercover dealings with their opponent.

The 305 Brigade army spokesperson, Lt Amos Nsamba, said security agencies had combed the whole village in a hunt for the attackers. He said there is need to encourage leaders to avoid misleading their followers in a manner that will not develop Uganda.
The attack in Kasese comes on the day after Presidenti Museveni had just warned against tribal chauvinism in Kasese district. In a March 10 press statement, the president said: “There can never be a Yiira Republic.”

President Museveni was meeting a delegation of the minority tribes in Kasese who were complaining about marginalisation in Kasese district. Some of the minority tribes were also talking of a scheme to create a Yiira Republic involving the Bakonjo of Congo and the Bakonjo of Uganda.
The minority groups represented were the Basongora, the Banyabindi, the Bagabo and the Bakyingwe [Banyabutumbi] as well as some other immigrant tribes [Bafurukyi].
The President assured the delegation that if a Yiira Republic was ever to be created, it would never ever involve a single inch of Ugandan territory.

Previously
Similar incidents happened in the neighbouring Bundibugyo district last month after the incumbent district chairman, Mr Jolly Tibemanya (Independent) lost to Mr Ronald Mutegeki (NRM) in a hotly contested race. The attacks left over 10 people dead in Kirumya Bughendera County.

editorial@ug.nationmedia.com

Water treatment costs rise in Fort Portal

A wire mesh fixed under the bridge on River Mpanga in Fort Portal Town to block plastic bottles and other waste materials. Photo by Felix Basiime.  

In Summary

·         Appeal. The officials have asked residents to ensure water safety in order to reduce costs.

·         The NWSC manager Fort Portal branch, Mr Denis Muramuzi, urged residents to cooperate and ensure water safety in the area

(http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Water-treatment-costs-rise---officials/688334-3381320-ysapkc/index.html)

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 15 2016

By Felix Basiime

Kabarole. The cost of treating water for public consumption in Fort Portal Municipality has trippled in the last six years due to the pollution of River Mpanga, officials have said.

“The chemical consumption at National water sewerage corporation (NWSC) Fort Portal plant has increased by 3.1 times, from 0.0120 Kg/unit of water to 0.0375 Kg/unit of water treated between 2010 to 2016,” Mr John Paul Onencan, the quality control technician, NWSC Fort Portal area said recently.

Mr Onencan said it is now costly for the corporation to filter the polluted water from the main source since a lot of chemical is needed to have the water purified.

The NWSC manager Fort Portal branch, Mr Denis Muramuzi, urged residents to cooperate and ensure water safety in the area.

“It may result into high costs of tap water and also cause water borne diseases to those who consume it directly,” Mr Muramuzi said.

Recently, Kabarole District chairperson Richard Rwabuhinga, appealed to the people living along River Mpanga banks to stop polluting the water source as it also constrains neighbouring districts of Kyenjojo, Kamwenge, Kiruhura and Ibanda.

Mr Rwabuhinga said activities like the washing bay, processing plants, waste disposal pits on the river banks have contributed to the water pollution. He also blamed the situation on weak laws and poor financing of the management committees by the ministry of Water and Environment.
However, Mr Rwabuhinga asked residents to cooperate.

Uganda traditional king arrested over deadly clashes

Rwenzururu King Charles Wesley Mumbere at his coronation anniversary on October 19, 2009

Photo by Felix Basiime

(http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/Uganda-traditional-king-arrested-over-deadly-clashes/2558-3467002-usbkj5/index.html)

By FELIX BASIIME in Kampala

Posted  Sunday, November 27   2016 at  18:50

Ugandan traditional king Omusinga wa Rwenzururu Charles Wesley Mumbere was arrested Sunday following fresh clashes in the Rwenzori region

He was reportedly picked up from his Buhikira Royal Palace in Kasese town by the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) in a joint operation with police.

Mr Mubere was later airlifted to Kampala.

Security forces

His arrest came just hours after police said at least 55 people were killed in fierce fighting that erupted in western Uganda between security forces and a separatist militia.

Police spokesman Andrew Felix Kaweesi said 14 police officers and 41 militants had died in the clashes on Saturday, when fighters linked to the royal guard of the Rwenzururu kingdom attacked patrolling security forces.

"Yesterday a joint Uganda police and UPDF (army) operation, patrolling in Kasese town... came under attack by Royal Guards of the kingdom. The attackers threw an improvised grenade which exploded and injured one soldier. Security forces reacted and shot in self-defence, killing four attackers," said Mr Kaweesi.

Explosive devices

"That incident set of an explosion in all local sub-counties. Fighting continued from morning to late evening."

Mr Kaweesi said the attackers -- not all of who were royal guards -- had guns, spears and improvised explosive devices.

River Mpanga pollution leaves residents thirsty

A wire mesh set under one of the bridges on River Mpanga in Fort Portal Town to block plastic bottles and other waste as one of the ways of keeping the river free of pollution. PHOTOS BY FELIX BASIIME 

According to Edgar Muganzi, the coordinator of Natural Resources Defence Initiatives, the plan involves replacement of eucalyptus trees upstream with more appropriate trees like Grevillia robusta

(http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/River-Mpanga-pollution-leaves-residents-thirsty/688334-3465154-7t4nbuz/index.html)

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 26 2016

In Summary

·         River Mpanga is the main source of water for the people around it.

·         Saturday Monitor’s Felix Basiime explores how pollution of the river is affecting the livelihood of those who depend on it.

·         Of late, the ministry of Water and Environment, in partnership with Protos, has stepped up measures to save and protect river Mpanga.

By Felix Basiime

George Akuguzibwe is a sand and stone miner in the hilly Karangura areas in Kabarole District. He is the chairman of Karangura Stone Quarry, a group of 50 members mining stones and sand upstream of River Mpanga.
“We have been in this business since 1990, through which I have managed to educate my children,” he proudly says. Akuguzibwe thinks his job is solving a bigger problem that people face during the rainy season.

“During the mining, we de-silt (scooping sand in the river) the river and this stops it from bursting its banks during the rainy season,” he explains.
Asked whether he and his colleagues know that what they are doing is affecting the river, especially the flora and fauna downstream, Akuguzibwe says: “Yes, we know, but government does not help us. If government gives us an alternative economic activity, we can abandon this one.”
River Mpanga flows from the Rwenzori mountains through the districts of Kabarole, Kyenjojo and Kamwenge and then feeds into Lake George.

However, during the rainy season, the colour of the water from the river turns dark brown as a result of siltation due to sand and stone mining on its banks upstream in Karangura.
“River Mpanga is the major source of water for people around it, including National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) and once the river is polluted, people who use its water for drinking risk getting water-borne diseases such as cholera and typhoid,” Lieven Peeters, the coordinator of Protos, an NGO, says.
Protos and Natural Resources Defence Initiatives (NRDI) are non-governmental organisations dedicated to better water management.
Officials at NWSC plant in Fort Portal say in the last six years, water treatment costs have tripled as they use more chemicals than before to purify the water, according to Denis Muramuzi, the NWSC Fort Portal branch manager.

NWSC has more than 7,000 water connections (households) in Fort Portal town alone and of late, consumers have complained of the colour of the water pumped into their homes.
Nyakato Rusoke, a resident of Fort Portal Town, recently shared her frustration about the quality of the water with the public when she posted on social media: “I collected water from a tap this early morning and I thought I would use it to prepare breakfast. What I saw defeated my understanding! Why should consumers part with their hard earned money to pay for such dirty water? In my lay man’s view, this water is not fit to even be used in a toilet, because it will leave it stained! I have observed this for some time.”

The source area in the Rwenzori mountains is currently under high pressure mainly due to deforestation on the slopes. Loss of tree cover is leading to important changes in the river bank characteristics and has started to impact on the river itself.
“Loss of tree cover upstream causes run off that results into siltation of the river and the lake downstream,” observes Peeters. 
He adds: “Of recent, there has been an increase in the number permanent houses near the river, car washing bays, sand mining activities, brick laying and crop production on the river beds, all of which cause silting of the river.”
In Fort Portal Town, washing bays have been established just 20 metres from the river banks as opposed to the recommended 200 metres.

This allows oils and other chemicals from the vehicles to pour into the river, thereby contaminating the water. 
Pit-latrines at Mpanga Market in Fort Portal Town were constructed along the river, allowing faecal matter to spill directly into the river whenever it rains, making the water unfit for consumption.
The degradation of the river is also threatening the power production at the Mpanga hydropower plant downstream at Mpanga Falls as water levels fluctuate.
Lake George at the downstream faces several serious threats related to the rivers flowing into it and the management of its fisheries resource.

Residents of all fishing villages around Lake George say the water level of the lake has been going down over the years. 
Nicholas Kabagambe, the secretary of Kayinja Beach Management Unit at Lake George, says: “The fish breading grounds at the shores of Lake George have been affected due to siltation, so we are have been experiencing less fish catch over the last three or so years.”
Victoria Birungi who sells fish at Katunguru Trading Centre in Kasese District, shares the same story.
“In the past (2011), I used to buy between 200 and 300 fresh fish from the landing sites but now I get just between 30 and 50 fish because of pollution of the fish breeding grounds on Lake George,” she says.

Interventions

Of late, the ministry of Water and Environment, in partnership with Protos, has stepped up measures to save and protect river Mpanga. The authorities prepared a catchment management plan (CMP), which aims at creating public awareness on the importance of conserving the environment.
According to Edgar Muganzi, the coordinator of Natural Resources Defence Initiatives, the plan involves replacement of eucalyptus trees upstream with more appropriate trees like Grevillia robusta.

“We are replacing eucalyptus trees with fruit trees, sensitising communities, regulating washing bays and demarcating the buffer zones,” he says.
Fort Portal Municipal Council has also launched alternative packaging materials in order to stop polluting the river with polythene bags.

The Water ministry has also formed Albert Water Management Zone as one of the initiatives to save the river Its team leader, Mr Albert Orijabo, says: “Some interventions upstream include sorting waste and conservation preparations of tree nursery beds and sensitising the communities.” 

He adds: “Downstream in Kamwenge District, we have established fish ponds in Mutamba wetland to protect the Mutamba wetland system with the aim of enticing the communities to see the wetland as a resource.”

However, the Kabarole District environment officer, Godfrey Ruyonga, says law enforcement and monitoring, among other interventions to protect River Mpanga, have been affected by politics. 

“There is a lot of political interference that brings down enforcement, especially in the upstream area. Some politicians advise people against giving up sand mining,” he says.

Early marriage ruining girls’ future

Biira Samanya with her baby.Photo by Scovi Atuhaire

“…girls should be strong during hardships,” Biira says, suggesting that it is only strength and the will of God that can make one survive through.

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 8 2016

http://www.monitor.co.ug/artsculture/Reviews/Early-marriage-ruining-girls--future/691232-3372938-6jgh9k/index.html

In Summary

Many young girls continue to suffer at the hands of people who ought to have protected them. Research indicates that many are forced to drop out of school and married off at an early age.

By FELIX BASIIME & SCOVIA ATUHAIRE

It is a bright Monday morning in Kasese District but Samanya Biira is not anywhere around school or intending to get there any soon. 

In 2015 the 15-year-old girl was asked to leave school because she could no longer be sustained without paying dues or buying scholastic materials.

However, within that period, she says, a man convinced her that he would pay her school fees but instead turned against his promise defiling her and impregnating her in the process.

The case was reported to police but the man, whose name has been omitted because he is still a suspect, is still at large.

Fortunately, Biira was allowed to sit her Primary Leaving Exams and she had to do some of her papers on the hospital bed in 2015 after she went into labour in the middle of exams. She obtained 26 aggregates.

Joining secondary school 
She hopes to attain secondary education at her preferred school choice, Mugunu Secondary School because it is nearer to her home. This will afford her the luxury of looking after the baby as well as attending school. 

For Biira it was a hard lesson but it has made her grow and see things in a more mature way at her age. 

“…girls should be strong during hardships,” Biira says, suggesting that it is only strength and the will of God that can make one survive through.

Biira is a mirror image of the plight of the girl-child that continues to be abused in much of the Rwenzori sub-region. 

Jostas Mwebembezi, an IT personnel at Ride Africa, says there is a gap in providing sex education, according to a research study that was conducted about sex education in western Uganda in 2015.

Ride Africa, a non-governmental organisation, integrates technology that amplifies the reporting of different forms of child abuses in the Rwenzori sub-region including early child marriage.

“Our children might be at risk of having sex early. We have a lot of trouble trying to educate our children about sex education,” the research findings released in February read in part. 

The research was carried out in the districts of Bundibugyo, Hoima, Kabarole, Ntoroko, Kyegegwa, Kamwenge, Kasese, Kibaale, Kyenjojo, Masindi, and Buliisa.

According to Mwebembezi, one in every four adolescent girls in western Uganda has had a teenage pregnancy. Girls with primary level education, Mwebembezi says, are twice more likely to have had sex compared to those in secondary schools.

The research findings also shows that girls who have never attended school are 50 per cent more likely to be sexually active with 53 per cent more likely to be married at a very early age. 

About 14 per cent of young women in the age group of 15 and 24 had their first sexual intercourse early in life, the research findings indicates.

More than 31,000 children are estimated to be heading households in Uganda, according to data compiled by Uganda Bureau of Statistics during the 2014 National Housing and Population census. 

Research findings show that only four out of 10 young males and females aged between 15 and 24 have comprehensive knowledge about HIV prevention while one in every four girls aged between 15 and 19 has begun child-bearing or is pregnant with their first child.

Vulnerable children 
Nearly all Ugandan children (96 per cent) are vulnerable with 43 per cent (7.3 million) suffering moderate from vulnerability while 8 per cent (1.3 million) suffer from critical vulnerability.

Up to two million children aged between five and 17 years in Uganda are engaged in some form of work with up to 507,000 involved in hazardous work while between eight and 10 children in primary and secondary school experience sexual violence.

In Kasese District, nearly 74 children are abused every month in five sub-counties while two in every five women aged between 20 and 24 were married or in a union before 18 years, according to Mwebembezi.

A survey conducted by Joy for Children Uganda in 2013 in the mountainous sub-counties of Kabarole District in Karangura, Kabonero, and Kateebwa mainly inhabited by the Bakonjo, found that child marriage is the leading cause of school dropouts among girls. At Nyarukamba Primary School in Karangura Sub-county, the rate of school dropout of girls was at 15 per cent in 2009 and 10 per cent in 2012. The girls are married off in exchange for property including cows, goats and other household items.

The same survey indicates that 14 of those dropping out did not sit their Primary Leaving Examination, especially at Nyarukamba Primary School in Karangura Sub-county. 
Many of them, research findings shows, are negotiated into marriage by their parents. 
Cases have been reported to police but many are never investigated to their logical conclusion.

Why early marriages are high
According to Mwebembezi, teenagers from poor backgrounds are more likely to start child-bearing early compared to those in relatively well-off households.

This also applies to teenagers with no formal education that are thrice more likely to start child-bearing early as opposed to those with secondary education.

Research conducted by Unicef indicates that girls who marry before 18 years are more likely to suffer domestic violence such as sexual violence at the hands of their partners.

Young married girls also tend to be more isolated, exacerbating their vulnerability and are more likely to extend the vulnerability to their children, thus perpetuating intergenerational cycles of poverty and gender discrimination.

About Samanya Biira 
Diversification

Biira is the fifth born in a family of eight children. She was born in Nyamatunga 1, Bukangala parish, Mugunyu Sub-county in Kasese District.

Her father died while still young surviving with her peasant mother, Kyakimwa Nakyanzi. 
Biira plans to start farming with the view of planting eggplants and other crops for sell. 
She believes through farming she will get a source of income that she can use to look after her baby.