Your life is not safe when you have to go to your tormentors to beg for mercy. Except, nothing lasts forever. ---------------------------- By Carol Kasujja KAMPALA - Women activists are demanding reforms in the KCCA enforcement policy to ensure the safety of Ugandans – especially women and children – in public spaces. This comes after an incident in which a two-year-old boy, Ryan Ssemaganda, was knocked dead by a KCCA vehicle early last week. Regina Bafaki, the executive director of Action For Development (ACFODE), told reporters that Kampala Capital City Authority needs to act because the Authority has violated women and children’s basic rights on several occasions in the past. As such, she said, KCCA should ensure that education and information regarding the prohibition against torture are fully included in the training of their law. “On several occasions, the Authority agents have been using excessive force while arresting people in and around Kampala, irrespective of whether one is pregnant, disabled, elderly, sick or with a child. “The arrests sometimes include physical handling of culprits, verbal attacks and psychological intimidation. Enforcers should do away with using brutality while arresting,” said Bafaki. Activists have been critical of KCCA enforcement officers aggressive way of handling culprits. The director further opined that KCCA, Police and other law enforcement officials should ensure the safe custody of children whose mothers are imprisoned or in detention. Suzan Apolot, the Uganda Women’s Network programmes coordinator appeared at the meeting. There, she stressed that KCCA should address the major obstacles preventing the effective implementation of commitments made in existing legislative measures that protect the lives of people in detention, especially the vulnerable like women and children. “Police and the judiciary should ensure that the victim [referring to the mother of the child] obtains redress and has an enforceable right to fair and adequate compensation including the means for as full rehabilitation as possible,” she said. Apolot also called upon all government ministries, departments, agencies, institutions, civil society and private sector companies to act accordingly – by putting in place child protection policies. newvision.co.ug/news/662225-kcca-urged-on-reforms-to-protect-women-and-children.html
Posted on: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 20:29:55 +0000
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