Being “too caring” for that street kid in Kampala Uganda will now have you arrested and pay a fine. Giving money or food to street children is now unlawful in Kampala.
Lawmakers in the capital passed a law to ban individuals from giving money or food to children living in the streets with those who will violet being eligible for a fine of 9 US Dollars.
According to estimates by the government of Uganda, there are as many as 15,000 children living on the streets of Kampala aged up to the age of 17.
According to officials, the law is aimed to curb the commercial and sexual exploitation of children and offenders risk being locked up for up to 6 months.
Children being send on streets to beg is a common phenomenon in Kampala and most cities across Africa. In Kampala, just like in Nairobi, there are people, some rich who use children to beg for money with some making millions at the end of the day.
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Resident in Nairobi, Kenya, are urging Kenyan lawmakers to follow Uganda’s example and ban begging on the streets. By 2007, Kenya was estimated to have between 500,000 and 600,000 street children across major towns with more than 100,000 of them being in Nairobi.
There are at least 25,000 street families in Nairobi with the majority of them relying on begging for money to survive. The county government of Nairobi has tried on several occasions to eject them to no success.