Mubende needs UGX 98 million to build juvenile centre

Mubende, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Mubende district is looking for over 98 million Shillings to construct a juvenile centre and a reception centre for children offenders.

According to the Mubende district community development officer Maria Ndagire, they are facing a challenge of a place where they can detain the children below the age of 18 years and most of the time, they are put in custody with the old inmates which she says is not good.

Ndagire says that they receive 6 to 10 cases of children who have committed different offences in a month but they do not have where to detain them within the district.

Ndagire says that this has forced them as a district to look for money so that they can construct a juvenile and reception centre for the young children so that they can separate them from the adults in cells, and that they get space at Mubende police station.

The Mubende district probation officer Mariam Nagawa says that most of the children are influenced by some old people to do the bad acts and others learn the bad acts on televisions and start practising them. Also, too much domestic violence has led to some children to run away and go to streets and start the bad behaviours.

Ndagire says that when they complete the construction of this Juvenile centre, they are going to use it to for counselling and helping the juveniles so they can lead good life and also reduce the rate of crime.

Nagawa says that they get a lot of cases of this nature during holidays when the children are back from schools and that also in this period of Covid, cases are high.

When the juvenile centre is constructed, it will be the newest in the country after Fort Portal, Gulu, Naguru, Mbale and Kampiringisa National Rehabilitation Centre.

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