Mwanga II Magistrate’s Court in Kampala has charged and remanded to Kitalya Prison two people on 2 counts of trafficking and conspiracy to commit an offense.
The suspects include Kayondo Kenneth, 33, a pharmaceutical salesman in Juba, Nambi Christine, 30, a housewife and resident of Canaan Estates in Kitende, and Akankwasa Gerald 40, a medical officer and resident of Matugga.
The suspects appeared before the Grade One Magistrate Timothy Lumunye who remanded two of the suspects and granted the third bail.
The prosecution led by David Lukwago alleges that on September 8, 2021 while at Start Royal Suites Hotel in Nalukolongo, Kampala, three suspects kidnapped and attempted to traffic a three-month-old baby to South Sudan.
The suspects offered to pay Shillings 20 million to the baby’s mother Josephine Nassaka to traffick the toddler to one Danielle Sserwadda in South Sudan.
The suspects were however busted by detectives after a tip-off from the neighbor.
Two suspects have been remanded until September 27th, 2021 on a not guilty plea while the other, Nambi Christine was granted a cash bail of Shs5 million and after presenting her 2 sureties who were each given a non-cash bond of Shs 10 million.
According to the Trafficking in Persons Report from 2020, estimates determined that traffickers are currently exploiting 7,000 to 12,000 children through sex trafficking in Uganda.
Human trafficking is the crime of using “force, fraud, or coercion” on people with the aim of exploiting them for profit.
Aggravated Trafficking of persons attracts life imprisonment on conviction, according to the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act, 2009.
Compiled by Rashidah Nakaayi
