Four women were sentenced to two months imprisonment by City Hall Court after voluntarily pleading guilty to charges relating to aiding and abetting child begging on the city streets of Kampala. The quadruple were sent to Luzira Women’s Prison on Friday.
The four are part of a group of 25 women who were arrested on Tuesday 18th of August across the capital on allegations of sending children to public areas unattended which contravenes the recently passed Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) Child Protection Ordinance of 2022.
The other 21 women were remanded until the 2nd of September by presiding Grade One Magistrate Jane Tibagonzeka citing lack of an interpreter for the accused.
The ordinance passed in June which criminalises sending minors to beg, vend or hawk items and as well selling of drugs and alcohol to children, also bans loitering of minors in public places especially city streets.
The law also disallows employment of minors as domestic servants or any form that denies a minor a chance of attending education programs.
The Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) law demands that anybody who contravenes the law will be imprisoned for six months or pay a fine of two currency points (about Shs40,000).
KCCA has over time raided streets and rescued children and integrated them into children’s homes located in Naguru, Masulita and Koblin among others.