Police in Busia have surrendered 11 minors to their Ugandan counterparts after holding them in incarceration for three days.
Speaking to the press at Busia Police Station on Tuesday, Busia County Commissioner Jacob Narengo said the girls were rounded up at Korinda road block on Saturday while traveling in a bus destined to Nairobi without the requisite documents.
“Upon interviewing, police officers realised that they were just young girls who had been lured to get jobs as house helps in Kenya but today we have decided that they be returned to the Ugandan authorities so that they are handed back to their parents,” he said.
Narengo advised the young girls to ensure that they have all the required documents if they want to cross to Kenya so that they do not get into trouble with law enforcement agencies.
He urged members of the public to report cases of people luring others for the purposes of human trafficking to the security agencies.
The administrator added that security officers from both sides will be vigilant to ensure that those who are benefiting from this trafficking syndicate are arrested.
“We want people from this common border to volunteer information that will help the law enforcement agencies to arrest such people,” he said.
Busia Uganda Resident District Commissioner Chris Okiria thanked the Kenyan authorities for intercepting the girls.
Okiria stated that Ugandan labour laws advocate for child protection from employment that affects their learning.
“As we realise, these children should have been in school but they were on the road to look for jobs,” he said adding that efforts will be made to ensure that they are in school.
He urged parents to keep their children in school until such a time that they are ready for the job market.
“These girls were coming from villages like Moroto,iriir, and Longerechora and they were excited because some two had been to Nairobi and we suspect that they encouraged the rest to follow suit,” he said.
The official further said that they had not established whether there was any other person behind the incident adding that the two who had been to Nairobi must have lured the others through the goodies they had carried back to Uganda.
The two administrators resolved to work together to ensure harmony, security and legal trade across the border.
By Salome Alwanda
