WITH THE CORRUPTION IN UGANDA, A POLICE SURGEON SHOULD BE A LAST RESORT IN DETERMINING THE GIRL'S AGE

A case was brought to my attention when a boy was arrested and brought to Kajjansi Police Station, and charged for defilement. The matter was reported to me. I did not know the girl, however, I learn't that the girl had told some people that she is 17 years. I was not convinced as it looked from the word go that the party on the girls' side were after getting monetary gains. Yesterday, 24th July, I called at the Police. I wanted to know how in the 1st instance a girl who had been collected from where she was by a Police officer as she was threatening someone's life, had all of a sudden become a complainant? What had become of the Case for which the girl was evacuated from the scene? At the Police Station, I was told that when they saw the girl, what looked more serious was that she had been defiled! That is Uganda Police. Cases are taken to them and when they pay lip services, shortly afterwards you find people murdered. Anyway, I asked them the method they used to establish that the girl was defiled. They told me that the Police Surgeon did. It is a big problem Uganda is in. I got a File number given to me and approached higher authorities. You know the beauty of it is that so those of us who had opportunity to go to good schools, you find that one knows some senior person some where to can attend to such problem. Today morning, the case was brought to the Prosecutor and i told him that I was not satisfied that the girl was actually 17 years. I told him that since this girl had been to some school, better we get facts instead of taking what she had alleged as gospel truth. When the girl as asked whether she had been at school earlier on, she said she had and that she stopped in S. 3. Asked the year, the poor girl said it was 2008. By simple computation, a girl in Uganda is in S. 3 by at least 16 years. it is 4 years since 2008. Surely, can any serious person rely on a report by a Police Surgeon? That is the situation in Uganda. Much as we are concerned about justice, let it be justice. It is unfortunate the way the Police use this type of cases to benefit. the simple boy has been a candidate of prison and a sentence for may be 14 years! That is the justice we have. William Kituuka Kiwanuka