Busia local leaders question govt commitment to fight child labour

A section of Busia District lower local government leaders have questioned government commitment towards fighting child labour.

The group allege that much as there are existing laws in the land to protect children against hazardous work, implementation has failed especially in the district.

This as children as young as eight years old abandon schools for artisanal mining.

When one traverses the different artisanal gold mining fields in the two parishes of Mawero and Amonikakine in Busia, sounds of hammers and machines vibrating from a distance is what attracts one's attention.

And as one gets closure, children aged between eight and 15 years old armed with basins washing hammered stones and rolling machines in search for gold, is what catches one's eyes.

According to Emmanuel Eduki, Buteba Subcounty chairperson, most of the children at the mines have actually dropped out of school and now living on their own.

"At the age of 15, you find a child already constructed a well furnished house, installed power and gotten married. Such a child can't again go back to school," Eduki said.

Isa Bin Abubakali, Sikuda Subcounty chairperson, equally revealed the rate at which children in the area are dropping out of school.

Speaking to Nile Post, Abubakali revealed that just a few works ago, a 13-year-old Primary Six boy in his village after earning Shs12 million from gold abandoned studies for business.

With the tough laws in the land of prohibiting persons of such ages from hazardous works, one wonders how these minors beat the laws to freely work at the risky sites given their tender ages.

But to the area youth leader, Clare Naiziga, the high profits attained from gold mining is to blame for children' involvement in artisanal mining.

The crude mining which is highly chemicalized makes most of these miners to come into direct contact with chemicals. This according to the leaders is a health hazard to the population.

Busia district authorities are now appealing to Parliament to either strengthen the existing laws or come up with better one that can be implemented to dot.