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An alarming report showing Terego District leading in teenage pregnancy prevalence nationally has attracted interest from the Uganda Women's Parliamentary Association (UWOPA) to join in the fight.

On Friday, March 1, a team of four MPs at the invitation of Terego woman MP Rose Obiga, met stakeholders at three different venues to guide victims, parents and leaders to find solutions to the driving factors and punishment of offenders.

In a meeting with leaders and representatives of victims at the Terego district headquarters, the legislators learned that from October last year, 2203 girls were defiled in the district, representing 21%, above the global average that stands at 14%.

Poverty in the community was identified as the major factor driving the vice, as children lack care and drop out of school.

Other factors include drug abuse, a negative culture that views girls as a source of income, the presence of technology exposing children to pornography, and general moral decadence.

They addressed girls from primary schools in Omugo sub-county, together with those at Omugo Girls’ Secondary School, as well as parents with teenagers at Omugo Health Centre IV.

The legislators were saddened when Wilfred Saka, the Terego LC5 chairman, narrated that victims need intensive support as they undergo post-traumatic stress.

“Our youngest mother so far is 13 years old, impregnated by a P7 pupil who scored aggregate 16, we have recommended both to join school again. The worst is an 11-year-old girl in Omugo sub-county defiled by a 50-year-old HIV-positive paternal uncle,” Saka explained.

Nabilatuk woman MP Sylvia Awas Vicky advised both the boys and girls to marry at an appropriate time and disassociate from premarital sex.

She warned that impunity in abusing very young girls is unacceptable.

“I was mean with my body when young because I wanted to get a job before I married at the age of 26 years after completing a diploma course. I run away to stay with my aunt from my parents when the man my father proposed to marry me attempted to rape me on my way to market. If I succumbed, I wouldn’t be an MP,”   Awas testified.

The leader of the UWOPA team, former health minister Sarah Opendi, warned people to stop engaging in the vice before facing severe punitive measures when the upcoming Sexual Offences Bill, 2019 is passed.

“We are tired because defilement is not ending although all efforts in the country are directed towards it. We are proposing men accused of aggravated defilement should be castrated. If you want a wife, get someone above 18 years, why are you defiling these young girls when you cannot eat one-day or month-old chicks?” Opendi lamented.

Legislators, Terego district leaders and representatives of victims pose for a group photo at Terego district headquarters. (Photo by Geoffrey Angupale)

Terego deputy RDC Onyango Emokol Peter, says the security in the district is limited to prevent sexual abuse cases due to limitations in implementation of by-laws enacted.

“Council passed by-laws but we are limited to crack down on night discos and markets due to inadequate police officers, we have few policemen. Now that there is a new patrol car, we need more manpower for regular patrols,” Onyango noted.

The principal senior secretary in the office of the CAO, Annet Olema, consoled victims of abuse to rediscover their lives instead of losing hope.

“Once you fall down, you must not remain there because you still have a future, you need to seek guidance our officers are ready to support you and when we put our heads together, you will see yourselves growing as gallant citizens. There is still light at the end of the tunnel,” Olema assured.

Terego woman MP Rose Obiga together with her colleagues from West Nile including Arua City MP Maureen Osoru and Vurra County MP Yovani Adriko, directed teenage girls to avoid intimate relationships with boys.