Dutch NGO faces boot from Gulu
PAICHO sub county council has resolved to indefinitely suspend the operations of War Child Holland over allegations that some of its volunteers were engaged in defilement.<br>
By Chris Ocowun
PAICHO sub county council has resolved to indefinitely suspend the operations of War Child Holland over allegations that some of its volunteers were engaged in defilement.
The sub -county chairman, Binansio Opoka, told a council meeting recently that volunteers from the international Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) had turned its child- friendly centre at Paicho IDP camp into a brothel.
“Four girls from Paicho Primary School have been defiled and impregnated by some volunteers of War Child Holland,†Opoka told the charged meeting chaired by the speaker, Freddie Aliker.
“The teachers from Paicho Primary School have also complained that these volunteers collect pupils from class rooms and take them to their centre allegedly for physical education,†Opoka added.
The Paicho district councillor, Alex Otim- Otim, vowed to take up the matter with the Gulu district council for immediate action because defilement was a serious offence. “We do not even know the health status of these volunteers,†observed Otim.
But Lazarus Ocira, the programme coordinator for War Child Holland for Gulu and Amuru districts, said their mandate was to protect children and whoever engaged in defilement did it as an individual and must face the full force of the law.
“We condemn such acts in the strongest terms possible,†Ocira told journalists at a press conference in Gulu.
“If it is our volunteers who did it, then they should face the law. We do not support that,†he added.
Ocira, however, said recently some people went around colleting money from Amuru IDPs claiming to be from their organisation. “ These people who defiled and impregnated the school girls may not be our volunteers.â€
He also blamed Paicho sub county council for resolving to suspend their activities without giving them a hearing. “You cannot make such a resolution in the absence of the people you are accusing. At least War Child Holland should have been there,†he said.
“I believe in dialogue; we shall talk to the sub county and district leadership to see how best we can handle the issue. It is not in our mandate to defile girls,†Ocira added.-He said the NGO would hand over the child friendly centre to the sub- county.
PAICHO sub county council has resolved to indefinitely suspend the operations of War Child Holland over allegations that some of its volunteers were engaged in defilement.
The sub -county chairman, Binansio Opoka, told a council meeting recently that volunteers from the international Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) had turned its child- friendly centre at Paicho IDP camp into a brothel.
“Four girls from Paicho Primary School have been defiled and impregnated by some volunteers of War Child Holland,†Opoka told the charged meeting chaired by the speaker, Freddie Aliker.
“The teachers from Paicho Primary School have also complained that these volunteers collect pupils from class rooms and take them to their centre allegedly for physical education,†Opoka added.
The Paicho district councillor, Alex Otim- Otim, vowed to take up the matter with the Gulu district council for immediate action because defilement was a serious offence. “We do not even know the health status of these volunteers,†observed Otim.
But Lazarus Ocira, the programme coordinator for War Child Holland for Gulu and Amuru districts, said their mandate was to protect children and whoever engaged in defilement did it as an individual and must face the full force of the law.
“We condemn such acts in the strongest terms possible,†Ocira told journalists at a press conference in Gulu.
“If it is our volunteers who did it, then they should face the law. We do not support that,†he added.
Ocira, however, said recently some people went around colleting money from Amuru IDPs claiming to be from their organisation. “ These people who defiled and impregnated the school girls may not be our volunteers.â€
He also blamed Paicho sub county council for resolving to suspend their activities without giving them a hearing. “You cannot make such a resolution in the absence of the people you are accusing. At least War Child Holland should have been there,†he said.
“I believe in dialogue; we shall talk to the sub county and district leadership to see how best we can handle the issue. It is not in our mandate to defile girls,†Ocira added.-He said the NGO would hand over the child friendly centre to the sub- county.