Uganda has become a baby shopping center, says Gen. Aronda

Uganda has become a baby shopping center, says Gen. Aronda

Internal Affairs Minister Gen. Aronda Nyakairima says Uganda is turning into a ‘baby shopping  center’ and called upon technocrats in his ministry to work with parliament’s  House Committee on Gender to harmonise and pass the Children (Amendments) Bills, 2015, which seeks regulate guardianship and inter-country adoption.

Gen. Aronda while launching the National Action Plan for Prevention of Trafficking in Persons (TIP) said  the increased adoption of children from Uganda could be another glaring form of trafficking that needs urgent redress.

“We need to check and deal with this practice as soon as possible otherwise we [Uganda) have become a shopping center for babies. We need an action plan which provides for enforceable sanctions and sanctions once you have been found culprit trying to take a child out of Uganda.” He added that current processes permitting adoption especially through courts and securing passports are prone to abuses due to the loopholes in the system.

Currently, the Children Act of 2003 requires interested parties to apply for adoption at either the chief magistrate’s court within the jurisdiction of which the applicant or the child resides or the High Court, but with the consent of the child’s parents or any other guardians. However parliament is stuck with two versions of the amended Bill, with gridlock being cited on clauses that allow foreigners to take children out of the country.

The widespread levels of poverty across the country have compelled parents and guardians alike to sign away obligation of their children. Gen. Aronda however said it is unlikely that families that sign away their children to oversea visitors, sometimes out of ignorance, ever get chance to reunite with them.

The Auditor General, John Muwanga, last year also raised red flag on the adoption boom, noting that the lack of government systems to track adoptions leaves children at risk of being kidnapped or trafficked. "There is no assurance that their fundamental rights have been respected and thus abduction, sale or trafficking of children cannot be ruled out," Mr Muwanga observed.

The report also said that the adoption boom has led to a surge in the number of organisations, about 500 orphanages, some of which give away the children.

The policy plan launched is intended to handle various aspects of the crime of trafficking in person, to realign the relevant national legislations and negotiate for relevant international bilateral diplomatic instruments in line with the demands and challenges of TIP at the national and international levels.

Statistics from the Gender ministry in 2014 estimated a estimated 400 percent increase in adoptions from 2006 to 2013. Inter-country adoption statistics by the US State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs between October 2012 to September 2013 estimate that 276 children were adopted from Uganda, the highest on the continent.

The former Chief of Defence Forces also said security will stop at nothing to bursting all Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) cells operating within the country. The cells have been noted to be recruiting points for the Islamic militant group operating in Eastern DR. Congo A 2014 TIP report by State Department indicated close to 500 children from Uganda were conscripted into rebel activities.

The Coordinator Preventions of Trafficking in persons, Moses Binoga, said the new policy would also promote useful partnership among stakeholders on trafficking issues, and build institutional capacity on assisting victims.