A top NRM party honcho, Walter Okiring Elakas (pictured above) believes that the only way to reduce cases of defilement involving teachers in Uganda should be hanging or a firing squad for the culprits.
“If I were the one, I would put all the teachers on the firing sqaud because there are many beautiful women out there , but they decide to turn their ‘gun’ on the pupils they teach,” Mr. Okiring, the LC5 of Katakwi district, told stakeholders during a dialogue meeting about International Women’s Day.
He also blamed some school directors for promoting indecent dressing by giving pupils mini-skirts.
The East Kyoga Police spokesperson Micheal Odongo, says Katakwi district was ranked first among the districts in Teso sub-region with cases of teachers who defile pupils.
The media in October 2017 reported a shocking incident that occurred in Toroma Sub-county in Katakwi District. Pupils of Okokorio Primary School raided their headmaster’s house to rescue their colleague whom they allege the school head was sexually abusing.
Teachers, he says, lure girls with small gifts and promises of higher marks in class. They use tricks such as asking girls to take books to their houses. Some of the defilers are either single or work away from their spouses. They try to create a situation in which they are alone with the pupil in the house.
In the police Biannual Report of 2015 (Jan-June), sex- related crimes reported numbered 10,163, a slight decrease from the numbers in 2014, which was 10,763. Defilement was the most overwhelming with 8,954 cases, with the previous year, 2014 being 9,551 cases.
However, many defilement cases remain unreported, especially in rural areas. Moreover, many of the reported cases are not persecuted despite some arrests being made.
As a result of defilement, girls end up getting pregnant, dropping out of school or becoming infected with HIV. But the problem is that in some cases, parents are compromised by accepting money and the offending teachers walk away scot-free.
