Obongi I Maureen, not her real name, is a 16-years-old former pupil of Yenga Primary School under the Morobi refugee cluster located in Palorinya sub-county in Obongi District. She is among hundreds of girls facing tough times after being defiled, impregnated and lured to abort after the prospecting husband pressured her with threats.
Maureen recounts her tragic story of having sexual intercourse in the bush three times with the 19-year-old defiler known as James Moga, a refugee like her. When she discovered she was pregnant, she told Moga.
According to Maureen, upon revealing to her boyfriend about the pregnancy, he quickly asked her to terminate the pregnancy so that the elders (parents) will not know and subsequently follow the matter. Maureen accepted after a threat to be killed if she had resisted.
“At first, I had rejected but my boyfriend, Moga, said if I refuse, he will kill me and run back to South Sudan because he is not ready to take care of me and the baby,” Maureen says.
Maureen, however, noted that on attempting to abort the fetus, there were complications which nearly took her life. The fetus, she said, died in her womb.
“I later accepted to abort, and he asked his aunt to give him money which he used for buying the tablets and after swallowing them I felt a deep pain in my heart, abdomen, and other parts of the body for two days not until my father asked me about it and I disclosed to him,” she narrated her painful story to tndNews.
Upon receiving the information from his daughter, Fred Lodiong Duku, living in Zone 3 West village, Idiwa 2 parish, Palorinya Refugee Settlement in Obongi, rushed her to Morobi Health Center III. Medical reports confirmed that the fetus had died in the womb due to over use of abortion drugs.
Duku later registered the case at Morobi Police Post under SD REF 11/21/10/2024 and later transferred the case to Obongi Central Police Station where he presented copies of letter of complaint written to the Resident District Commissioner, and copied to the District Internal Security Officer, on top of medical forms, among other documents.
However, he expressed his bitterness over the mismanagement of the case at Obongi Central Police Station, alleging a case of bribery at the police station, leading to the escape of suspects.
“I am not happy because of the incident which has happened to my daughter. I feel the pain she is going through. She feels ashamed of going back to school and has no friends now. I feel like this man (Moga) should be jailed or killed because his acts were about to kill my daughter,” Duku explained.
When teachers betray trust!
At Yenga Primary School, records showed that 5 girls were defiled, impregnated and abandoned by perpetrators including teachers in the space of only 3 months (September, October and November) and two of these girls were defiled by their own classroom teachers who were arrested by the community members and handed over to the police.
Among the teachers is Avayo Yoid, a government employed teacher doubling as Director of Rhod Darling Nursery & Primary School and Class Master of Primary Seven Class, was arrested for defiling a 15-year-old Primary Seven girl Stella, not her real name in her father’s bedroom.
Avayo, who has established his school within the same community, should have been a role model for the men in the community rather than being a perpetrator.
It is saddening that Rashul Aliga, an uncle to Stella, registered the case, SD REF: 09/10/11/2024) against Avayo. Aliga said it is very unfortunate for such a teacher to engulf in defiling teens and he now prays for a faster delivery of justice.
“According to her, this teacher started asking Stella for sex on Independence Day after buying her food, and sugar canes which she accepted and the teacher rented a lodge at Keguru trading center,” Aliga said.
“The second one was in the bush while the last incident happened in my room and they were arrested by neighbors while I was for my duties at the health facility. I am not feeling okay about what has happened to my daughter. It pains me. If I begin to think about what Avayo was doing, I feel like killing him. It has tortured my mind and if the teacher could go to prison, I would be okay.”
Sijali Abdallah, Deputy head teacher of Yenga Primary School, confirmed to tndNews that the matter is under police investigation and as a school, they are equally going to take administrative measures for the teacher involved.
“From our registration books, the girl is 15-years-old and truly the perpetrator is a teacher in our school, although we did not receive the information officially. Our position is that Mr Avayo violated the ethical code of conduct which is against the Penal Code Act and should be scrutinized by the law,” Sijali explained.
The professional Code of Conduct of Teachers in Uganda demands that teachers and other education personnel shall demonstrate commitment to work and display a positive attitude to the teaching profession, the school, children and the community and ensure a high standard of quality and excellence in their professional service delivery.
However, the Obongi Resident District Commissioner, Samuel Hashaka Mpimbaza, calls for the intervention of other human rights agencies in understanding the case file managements and purported escape of suspects of capital offenses in Obongi Central Police Station.
Hashaka said the rate of occurrence of defilement incidents is worrying as leaders have delved into it deeper and it has become difficult to handle the matters coupled with corruption involved at every chain of administrative structures that would handle such cases.
“This year alone, we recorded 7 cases of defilement from Obongi Town Primary School, 5 cases in Yenga Primary School, 6 cases in Itura Primary School, among many others; most of which are perpetrated by teachers, local leaders,especially politicians, and classmates; and none of these girls went back to school,” Hashaka said.
He further confirmed that his office received a letter of complaint from Fred Lodiong Duku, the father of the 16-years-old Maureen dated November 16, 2024, against the police of Obongi Central Police Station over the purported escape of the suspected defiler.
Hashaka wants an audit of the implementation of the presidential directive, directing the Ministry of Education and Sports to grant second chance education for girls who have fallen victims of defilement, teenage pregnancy and child marriages. The RDC noted that schools seem to be overwhelmed and have limited structures which cannot accommodate these vulnerable girls.
“I have received the third complaint against the police officer, especially in the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), including the Officer-In-Charge (OC) of Obongi who is frustrating our efforts to make sure the suspects appear in court,” Hashaka revealed.
“Obongi has a high rate of teenage pregnancies. It has hit the roof. It is too much; every school you go to and have a random pregnancy test, girls are either pregnant or have disappeared and been married off and this security officers use it for making money,” he added.
Patrick Angala, the Obongi District Education Officer, confirms and explains that some teachers have abandoned teaching in fear of their arrests after defiling their own learners.
According to a report from the education department, in 2023 alone, 62 school girls got pregnant while 39 girls and 24 boys were forced into early marriage due to bribery by both parents and police.
“Three of our teachers have abandoned work, and the network is indicating that one of them is in Jinja. It is very difficult to track and bring these perpetrators to book because there are a lot of negotiations involved right from the parents,” Angala revealed.
Mysterious escape from police holding cells
Early last month (November 2024), police confirmed the disappearance of four suspects from the holding cells at Obongi Central Police Station, adding that they were in pursuit of them and these included three defilement suspects
Ignatious Dragudu, the Police Public Relations Officer for West Nile sub-region, confirmed the escape of the suspects and encouraged members of the public to help in sharing information about the suspects who are still at large.
Dragudu noted that most of the suspects hail from Morobi refugee camp in Palorinya refugee settlement and expressed disappointment over the mounting bribery allegations on police officers handling the cases of defilement, saying it will be handled administratively based on the evidence available.
“We have received complaints against some of our officers in Obongi, especially from the girls’ parents. This is unfortunate. We shall not let it go just like that because it is our constitutional mandate to ensure justice is delivered and these teenagers are our future leaders; there should be no compromise about handling capital offense,” Dragudu said.
Records from the North West Nile sub-region showed that between January to early November 2024, 89 cases of defilement, teenage pregnancies and child marriages were reported at police in Obongi district with less than 20 cases reaching the court due to insufficient evidence, illegal negotiations and the majority of the cases were filed against teachers, and other community leaders who were found to be the prime suspects.
Aggrieved parents of the defiled teenage girls want punitive measures taken against police officers who release suspects in the acts perpetrating defilement, teenage pregnancies and child marriages as the demand for justice grows for survivors.
Duku, the father of Maureen, who lodged a case against Moga in the defilement case, revealed that after receiving the news of the escape of the suspect from Obongi Central Police Station, he noted that there was connivance between the suspects and police officers.
“I think one of the relatives of the man bribed the police officers in Obongi Central Police Station because the last time when I called them (police officers), they told me Moga was released on police bond; who bonded him? And now I am hearing that Moga has escaped with the other three defilers,” Duku explained.
Unfriendly school spaces
Philip Akuku Kayakaya, the Principal Education Officer, Adjumani District Local Government said most of the teachers lack the capacity to handle teen mothers in schools on top of other institutional challenges, thus pushing the girls away from school.
According to Akuku, the government should have first done capacity building for the teachers and established child friendly spaces and safe breastfeeding facilities for the teen mothers in all schools.
“Schools do not have facilities to keep babies, no breastfeeding corners, the capacity of our teachers is not enough and most of the teachers do not keep secrets with some of their attitudes and language used is unprofessional. Some of them, instead of referring to them as girls, some senior women teachers provoke them by saying ‘you women’! That is escalating the stigma among girls, hence many of them abandon school,” Akuku explained.
According to an analysis of figures from the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) and Education and Sports Sector Annual Performance Reports (ESSAPRs), approximately 42.8% of pupils who start primary school do not complete Primary Seven (P.7). This statistic means that almost 43 out of every 100 pupils drop out before finishing primary school.
The dropout rate is particularly concerning for girls, with 46.4% of female pupils dropping out before completing P.7, compared to 44.2% for boys. This gender disparity highlights the additional challenges girls face in continuing their education, such as early marriages and childbearing, which often interrupt their schooling.
Further, a recent report by Village Education Committees (VECs) in Oyam district revealed concerning disparities in school dropout rates between boys and girls. Data collected from 660 households across 11 villages between June and August 2023 highlights a significant gender bias in education.
According to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) 2021 report, approximately 28% of girls in rural areas dropout of school, often due to factors such as poverty, early marriage, and limited access to sanitary facilities.
United Nations International Children’s Education Fund-UNICEF, of all regions, sub-Saharan Africa, has the highest rates of education exclusion.
Over one-fifth of children between the ages of about 6 and 11 are out of school, followed by one-third of youth between the ages of about 12 and 14 while the UIS data revealed that almost 60% of youth between the ages of about 15 and 17 are not in school.
Our correspondents Okello Jesus Ojara & Dramadri Fredrick did this Special Report
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