National social workers association gets new executive
Apr 30, 2018
The elections took place during their Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Kampala.
Social workers under their umbrella organisation, National Association of Social Workers of Uganda (NASWU) have elected their new executive.
The elections took place during their Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Kampala.
Members who were elected on the executive included Michael Byamukama, Aloysius Okiror and Irene Nafungo as President, general secretary and treasurer, respectively.
Others were Josephine Watera as Vice-President, Grace Katusiime as vice-general secretary plus a committee of six members.
In their meeting, the members expressed concern over the increasing cases of child abuse in communities today, which they said signal their ineffectiveness.
They also called on Parliament to enact a law that will allow them get a council to regulate their activities as a way of boosting services delivery in the communities.
The members further observed the need to sensitise the public on early detection of incidents of child abuse and the importance of the mandatory reporting of cases of child abuse.
Dr. Roselin Lubanga, a retired social work lecturer at Makerere University noted that it is unfortunate that children are abused in their homes without their parents noticing it.
"Some children are raped by their own fathers and their mothers can't detect it," she said.
Members blamed Police for frustrating efforts of seeking justice for children who have been abused by giving bond to suspects who return to communities and harass victim's families.
They resolved to engage Police to understand what prompts them to mismanage child abuse cases including losing of the files.
In his speech, the keynote speaker, David Mugawe the deputy vice-chancellor external relations at Uganda Christian University (UCU) in Mukono asked Ugandans to show concern about the upbringing of children.
Mugawe noted that constant abuse of children has a long lasting impact in their lives. He noted that Police officers who batter innocent civilians like chicken thieves may be victims of child abuse.