Family & Parenting
Mother ‘swaps’ baby for a plate of food in Kasese market
According to Rose Kabarangira, the joint-eating owner, the woman walked in like any other customer on October 22, ate, and then quietly disappeared without paying, leaving the infant on the bench. "I thought she had gone to the toilet. She never came back," sources quoted Kabarangira as having said.
By press time, police and local leaders were still reportedly searching for the mother, while the baby remained in the care of market mothers.
By: John B. Thawite, Journalist @New Vision
KASESE - Vendors at Kisanga Market, known as Mawa Market in Kasese Municipality, were left speechless after a mother reportedly left behind her eight-month-old baby boy after eating a Sh1,500 plate of food.
According to Rose Kabarangira, the joint-eating owner, the woman walked in like any other customer on October 22, ate, and then quietly disappeared without paying, leaving the infant on the bench.
"I thought she had gone to the toilet. She never came back," sources quoted Kabarangira as having said.
She said the woman looked hungry and exhausted when she ordered food.
"She ate quickly. Then she stood up and disappeared. I later saw the baby was still there," Kabarangira reportedly narrated.
The incident ignited mixed reactions in the market.
While some vendors slammed the mother for irresponsible behaviour, others argued the Shs1,500 bill tells a story of grinding poverty
Instead of anger, it also sparked an outpouring of motherly love, with women vendors taking turns feeding and comforting the baby boy as police were called in.
For many, the debt was not a crime, but a cry for help.
"This is not irresponsible motherhood. This is hunger," said Judith Muhindo, a vendor.
The incident ignited mixed reactions in the market.
While some vendors slammed the mother for irresponsible behaviour, others argued the Shs1,500 bill tells a story of grinding poverty
Instead of anger, it also sparked an outpouring of motherly love, with women vendors taking turns feeding and comforting the baby boy as police were called in.
For many, the debt was not a crime, but a cry for help.
"This is not irresponsible motherhood. This is hunger," said Judith Muhindo, a vendor.
"A woman who has not eaten all night will do anything to feed herself to breastfeed her child," Muhindo argued
"She may have spent the whole night hungry and came here looking for how to survive with her baby," said Edith Tusiime, a vendor
"She did not leave her baby to die. She left him where she knew people would find him and care for him," Tusiime added.
Fishmonger Dovico Kiribwa and caregiver Midas Kabugho said the incident should act as an eye-opener about men who abandon their families.
"Find this woman, yes. But also find the father. Why is she alone with an eight-month-old baby and no Shs1,500?" Kiribwa asked.
By press time, police and local leaders were still reportedly searching for the mother, while the baby remained in the care of market mothers.
"She may have spent the whole night hungry and came here looking for how to survive with her baby," said Edith Tusiime, a vendor
"She did not leave her baby to die. She left him where she knew people would find him and care for him," Tusiime added.
Fishmonger Dovico Kiribwa and caregiver Midas Kabugho said the incident should act as an eye-opener about men who abandon their families.
"Find this woman, yes. But also find the father. Why is she alone with an eight-month-old baby and no Shs1,500?" Kiribwa asked.
By press time, police and local leaders were still reportedly searching for the mother, while the baby remained in the care of market mothers.