Parents charged with negligence after children drowning

Jinja, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The parents of the children who drowned in Lake Victoria on Christmas have been charged with negligence by the police in Kiira region. The suspects, Hasifah Kasubo, the mother of 12-year-old Fazili Mukungu, and Sofia Nakazibwe, the mother of 10-year-old Aksali Wambede, are both residents of Katende cell, Bugembe ward in Jinja City Northern division.

Reportedly, on Christmas Day, the two boys left their homes around 10:00 am supposedly to join Christmas festivities in the nearby communities. However, they headed to Lakeside Primary School in Masese ward, Southern division, Jinja city, attracted by a Christmas football game between Kisima 1 and Masese United. After the match ended around 6:30 pm with Masese United’s victory, Wambede, and Mukungu joined other boys at Masese landing site for swimming sessions.

However, a heavy storm hit the lake at about 7:30 pm. Lacking swimming experience, the boys drowned while others fled without informing the local authorities. Local divers and the police’s marine unit recovered Mukungu’s body later in the night, while Wambede’s body was retrieved on boxing day. Their bodies were taken to Jinja Regional Referral Hospital mortuary for postmortem, confirming their suffocation due to lack of oxygen underwater.

The bodies were later released to their families for burial. However, James Mubi, the Kiira regional police spokesperson, stated that the parents’ failure to protect their children led to the negligence charges. He expressed disappointment that the parents were unaware of their children’s whereabouts for an entire day and only sought help after seeing their lifeless bodies on various WhatsApp groups in Jinja city.

“It is unfortunate how parents can choose to be active on WhatsApp groups, yet relaxed in physically attending to their children who left home on Christmas,” he said. Mubi emphasized the importance of parental vigilance and accountability, mentioning that charging these two suspects would serve as a lesson. Despite giving them time to grieve, further interrogations are planned after the vigils.

Both parents, unwilling to provide detailed information, claimed their children left home to attend a non-existent Christmas party at Bugembe stadium, a misleading account discovered only after the tragic incident.

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