9 minors aged between 9 to 15 years have been intercepted by Police in Mityana district on their way to Kampala in search for jobs.
According Rachel Kawala, the Wamala Region Police Spokesperson, the minors who were intercepted at Kikonge trading on their way from Mubende district escaped from their parents and guardians citing mistreatment.
Kawala noted that during interrogation, the children told police officers that they have been surviving on collecting empty plastic bottles to earn a living in the streets of Mubende where they would earn Shillings 100 per kilogram but they were tipped of good prices in Kisenyi in Kampala where they could earn Shillings 300.
The children are currently being held at Mityana Police child and family protection unit as the force traces their parents.
The spokesperson has appealed to civil society workers and child rights activists to intervene and support the children as the search for their parents continues.
Meanwhile, two of the minors are Congolese nationals aged 15 and 11 years who left Kyaka II Refugee Camp in Kyegegwa District. They claimed that their brother Kyandyojje Usingemaana picked them from the camp to relocate them to a rented house in Kyegegwa Town.
However, their brother reportedly abandoned them in the house without food after getting a causal job far away prompting the landlord to evict them.
Other minors from Mubende claim that they ran away from home because of torture by their parents and guardians. The children claimed that their parents get drunk every day and torture them whenever they get home.
