NTUNGAMO – The Rubaare Town Council local head has arrested over 25 street children, signaling the beginning of a sustained crackdown on juvenile delinquency and urban vagrancy.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The development follows an operation conducted by a combined group of Local Council Chairpersons (LCs), led by Chairperson Milton Ndebesa, that targeted well-known hotspots that have become havens for chronic criminal street kids in the town.
The cleanup operation was conducted in several neighborhoods, including the cells of Rwobubare, Rwebikoona, Kamwokya, Muyenga, and Koranorya, following an outcry from residents over the continued terrorization of evening commuters.
Ndebesa, the LCI chairperson for Rubaare II Cell, told this reporter the crackdown was specifically carried out to root out criminals involved in serious offenses, including property theft, drug abuse, and snatching phones and bags from evening commuters.
He detailed a disturbing pattern among the children, aged 9 to 19, who have moved beyond petty theft to destroying household items like saucepans and metal utensils to sell as scrap for quick cash, an act he described as destruction, not survival.
“We are chasing away a culture of lawlessness. When a 12-year-old crushes his mother’s cooking pot into scrap metal to buy drugs, that is not poverty, it is a crisis of home and morality. Our operation will continue until every child is either in a classroom or back in the arms of responsible parents, because this town will no longer be a hiding place for crime disguised as survival,” Chairperson Ndebesa stated.
The group also stands accused of stealing livestock, including goats, sheep, pigs, and chickens . Upon interrogations, the arrested children confessed to operating under a known ring leader identified only as Gaza.
Reports indicate that a significant number of the street children are not native to Rubaare Town Council but have migrated from surrounding areas and districts including Rwahi, Kagango, Kashenyi, Rwentobo, Muhanga, Kerere, Rubaare, Mutojo, Kamweezi, and Lyantonde.
Local authorities attribute the rising number of street kids in Rubaare to a combination of parental neglect, domestic violence, and poor parenting practices, vowing to continue operations until the problem is reduced.
Meanwhile, the Officer in Charge of the Family Protection Unit at Ntungamo Police is finalizing plans to reunite the arrested children with their biological parents, emphasizing that the goal is not merely enforcement but long-term reunification and reintegration.
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