Woman arrested selling boy for sh23m

Nov 26, 2008

THE Police have arrested a Rwandan woman trying to sell a 15-year-old boy for sh23m. The Police identified the suspects as Scovia Mbabazi, 28, of Rushenyi village, Rweyare sub-county in Mbarara district.

By Ali Mambule
in Masaka

THE Police have arrested a Rwandan woman trying to sell a 15-year-old boy for sh23m.

The Police identified the suspects as Scovia Mbabazi, 28, of Rushenyi village, Rweyare sub-county in Mbarara district.

Mbabazi’s arrest comes as the Police intensify the hunt for Kampala tycoon Kato Kajubi over a gruesome ritual murder in Masaka district.

She was arrested when a Police officer pretended to buy the boy, the district Police commander, Juma Okungo, said.

The boy identified as Frank Hagirimaana, a Hutu, said he was picked from Bugesera Zone, Kabugakomini in Kigalingari district, Rwanda by Mbabazi who promised to get him a job.

Okungo said on Monday, Mbabazi approached a would-be accomplice, Fred Kasinga, of Kyotera town in Rakai district to look for a buyer. Mbabazi promised him a sh3m commission, the Police said.

The woman, the Police added, lied that she lived in Sanje on the Kyotera-Mutukula road in Rakai but they discovered that she had spent two days in a lodge in Kyotera town and had not paid the bills.

“She pleaded that she would pay after selling her goods,” Okungo said.

In a statement to the Police, the would-be accomplice reported the matter because he could not understand why the woman would sell the boy.

Okungo said a policeman, Rashid Luyinda, from Kyotera Police post, wearing a suit, pretended to be a tycoon interested in buying the boy.

Mbabazi initially asked for sh50m. After pleading for a discount, she reluctantly accepted sh23m and insisted she had to pay a sh3m commission to the broker.

Luyinda, however, requested Mbabazi to show him the boy before paying the money. She promised to bring him within an hour, saying he was in Sanje.

“We wanted to first rescue the boy before arresting the woman and we immediately arrested Mbabazi when she brought the boy who had no knowledge of what was going on,” Okungo added.

Mbabazi, however, told the Police that although she was selling the boy, she did not intend to sacrifice him.

“I thought the rich man wanted to give him a job.”

Mbabazi was detained at Kalisizo Police Station.

The Police said investigations into the matter are going on and that Mbabazi would be charged with child trafficking.

Okungo said he was waiting for instructions from the Masaka regional Police to instruct them on what to do with the boy who is now under Police care.

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