OWN CORRESPONDENT, Kampala | Tuesday 7.45pm.
A UGANDAN non-governmental organisation worker said on Tuesday that at least 18 street children aged from 14 upwards have been picked up by the Ugandan army in an apparent forced recruitment programme.
“For a month, we have been having reports of army trucks coming and recruiting street kids, as well as older people,” Andy Williams, who runs the street children’s charity, Tigers, said.
“At first we just heard rumours, but then there were so many reports coming and this has caused us concern,” Williams said.
Street children told staff at Tigers that they have seen lorries with army registration looking for children to recruit. One child claims to have leapt off the back of a lorry which was driving him away against his will, while others have reportedly been promised 500,000 Ugandan shillings ($380) to join the army.
Street children have claimed that a group of older boys were taken to Entebbe airport and put on a plane, apparently bound for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where Tutsi-led rebels have been battling to overthrow DRC President Laurent Kabila since August.
Ugandan minister of state for defense, Stephen Kavuma, denied the claims, saying on Tuesday: “I’m wondering how army trucks could be involved in this kind of excercise.” “We have no programme for street kids at all, and it is not our policy to take anyone anywhere. We do not recruit them against their will. We strictly observe human rights,” Kavuma said. –Agence France Presse