Buganda donates land to needy Kalangala girls
Oct 01, 2018
Two cases of defilement are reported with Police in Kalangala every week on average
Buganda Kingdom has donated 10 acres of land in Kalangala Islands to People In Need Agency (PINA Uganda), a local non-governmental organisation that provides hope to youth living with HIV/AIDS.
New Vision has learnt that Pina Uganda asked the kingdom for the land recently to construct a rehabilitation centre for young girls, who are victims of sexual abuse and those living with HIV/AIDS on the Islands.
In a letter dated July 23, Katikkiro Charles Peter Mayiga ordered the Kingdom's women, gender and social development minister, Mariam Nkalubo Mayanja, to work with other officials to secure land for Pina Uganda.
The Katikkiro's letter is copied to several kingdom officials and departments such as the Buganda Land Board and the ministry of local government.
The director of Pina Uganda, Asia Namusoke Mbajja, told New Vision that after securing the land recently, her organisation and the kingdom are now in the process of signing a memorandum of understanding.
"The rehabilitation centre will have a sickbay, houses for workers and agricultural projects for cattle, goats and chicken," Namusoke said, adding that the land is found in Bujumba sub-county.
Namusoke, a professional HIV/AIDS counsellor, told New Vision that defilement and incest, which are common in Kalangala, have increased the number of girls living with HIV/AIDS and the child mothers.
According to Namusoke, two cases of defilement are reported with Police in Kalangala every week on average. She noted that fishermen on the island have a belief that having sex with minors increases their fish harvests in the lake.
"Unfortunately, there are no courts on the island to handle capital offenses such as defilement. The cases are either heard in Masaka or Kampala," she said.
Namusoke who first worked among girls living with HIV/AIDS in Kampala, said she went to Kalangala after a Belgian national, Bery Glaser, who was taking care of 45 sexually abused girls handed them over to her in 2017 when he became bedridden with cancer.