Pallisa Parents Blame Early Marriages On LCs

By Jonathan AnguraPARENTS in Bulangira sub-county in Pallisa district have proposed that Local Council officials who preside over child marriages together with parents of the victims be prosecuted and imprisoned.They also resolved that to promote education for girls, no defilement cases should be settled out of court. Teachers who defile pupils should be summarily sacked and prosecuted, they said.The resolutions were made at a parents’ general meeting at Nabulanganga Primary School on Friday. It was presided over by the deputy Resident District Commissioner Robinah Nnabbanja.Participants noted that some LC officials, for personal gain, preside over marriages of girls below 18 years. They said such marriages are instigated by parents who want to get bride price.They said defilement by teachers was on the rise. They also expressed concern over the rising child marriages which they said had led to the increasing number of girls dropping out of school.The meeting was aimed at identifying causes of persistent poor academic performance in the primary leaving examinations and to work out strategies to address such issues. Ends