Nwoya district investigating over 200 child labour cases

Nwoya, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Nwoya district is investigating an estimated 248 cases of child labour. The investigations follow the increase in the number of child labourers according to statistics collected by different sub county Community Development Officers-CDOs.

According to the CDOs, the children are ferried from other districts at night to work on commercial farms as casual labourers. Jacob Okot, the Nwoya District Probation and Welfare Officer told URN in an interview that he has teamed up with the labour office to establish the farms employing children before they take legal action.

Okot who declined to disclose the details of their investigations only said they want to establish the exact number of the children and their places of origin among others. Charles Otema Awany, the chairman of Nwoya District Commercial Farmers Association says that much as they have been cautioning commercial farmers against employing children on their farms, many of them are adamant.

According to Otema, all the commercial farmers they have engaged have denied employing children on their farms. Martin Kiiza, the Executive Director of National Children Authority attributes the increase in the number of child labourers to parent’s failure to provide for their children hence forcing them to fend for themselves.

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