Member of Parliament for Kole North, Dr Opio Samuel Acuti, has called for stronger efforts to curb the rising cases of child-related crimes in the Lango sub-region.

His appeal follows a Uganda Police Force report which revealed that the sub-region has consistently ranked first in child-related crimes over the last three years.

Dr Opio Acuti made the remarks on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, at Wigua Primary School in Aboke sub-county, while attending a celebration marking World Vision Uganda’s 19 years of operation in Aboke sub-county and Aboke town council, a period that began in 2006.

The event highlighted several achievements in the local community, including drilling boreholes, sponsoring children’s education, and constructing classroom blocks and staff housing.

Acuti used the platform to thank World Vision for its child protection efforts in Aboke, which he said had substantially reduced child-related offences.

However, he called for more focus on addressing this growing vice in the Lango sub-region, basing his argument on police reports that include defilement, child abuse and torture, child desertion, and child negligence.

The Uganda Police crime reports for 2023, 2024, and 2025 revealed that the North Kyoga region (Lango) topped the list with 1,468, 1,154, and 682 reported cases, respectively.

Addressing the public, Jeremiah Nyagah, the World Vision Country Director, appreciated the people of Lango for cooperating with them over the years since their projects began in Aboke sub-county around 2006, when people were returning from the camps.

He added that while many NGOs ended their projects in Lango and the entire country, World Vision has maintained its work with the local community and continues to provide social services.

The Country Director lamented that even as they close their projects in Aboke sub-county, World Vision will continue operating in other parts of the Lango sub-region.

Nyagah said they have a new five-year strategic plan for the Northern, Eastern, Karamoja, and West Nile.

He noted that World Vision was established in 1986, when the NRM government took over power, and he thanked President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni for maintaining peace, especially in Northern Uganda.

While presenting the report at the celebrations, the World Vision Country Director applauded the socio-economic transformation witnessed in Aboke sub-county over the last 19 years.

During this period, 24 classroom blocks were built and furnished with 1,360 desks, 15 staff houses were constructed, 2 maternity wards were set up, 28 boreholes were drilled, and 2,500 children were sponsored.

Also read: World Vision Uganda closes 18-year programme in Aber, cites gains in child wellbeing

The celebration marked World Vision’s transition from Aboke sub-county to Alito sub-county and town council in Kole district, where they will undertake similar interventions.

During the event, several pepeopleere awarded certificates for their great role in the various World Vision interventions.

During the celebration, the Program Manager of World Vision, Edward Khaukha, stated, “We came to Kole at Aboke when people were coming back from the camps after about 100 scschoolgirlsere taken by the LRA army, but today we are celebrating their achievement in the past 19 years.”

He elaborated that when World Vision started thitsrojects in Aboke, access to quality health services was at only 43%, but they boosted it to about 92%.

Another achievement, he noted, is that access to clean water was at 54%, but today they celebrate that access to water now stands at 96%.

They have also improved the ability of children to read and write. He appreciated the sub-county leaders for working together with them since World Vision started its projects in Aboke.

Chief Guest, DrDrakisa Mercy, Minister of State for Youth and Children Affairs and Woman MP for Alebtong district, stated that the rampant cases of child defilement in Lango were being propagated by parents settling for compensatory payments when their children have been defiled, instead of the matter being taken to the police.

She directed that no more such arrangements be allowed and that the law be followed intourb this crime.