Community perceptions towards the criminalization of gifts to street connected children in Kampala

Abstract

The study aimed to investigate the community perceptions towards the criminalization of gifts to street connected children, taking the example of Wandegeya community. Data were gathered through Focus Group Discussions with the street connected children, Interviews with a selected members of the community, and Key informants from KCCA .The intention was to find out whether the public will embrace the requirements of the law or will work against the law and hence providing the initiators of the 2019 Kampala Child Protection Ordinance with relevant recommendations to ensure that the law is a success. The study was carried out in Wandegeya town of Kampala capital city. Data collection was done using an interview guide and a focus group discussion guide. A total of 23 respondents were interviewed and two focus group discussions were carried out with street connected children in different areas of Wandegeya, key informant who was Kampala Capital City Authority official were also interviewed. The study findings was that majority of the community respondents had a positive mindset and were in support of the implementation of the 2019 Kampala Child Protection Ordinance as most of them expressed their support to remove the street connected children from the street by pointing out some possible positive impact of the law once the street connected children are removed from the street and also recommended the government to create more rehabilitation centers enough to accommodate the growing number of the street connected children to be institutionalized. However, on the other hand, findings shows that the street connected children were worried about the implementation of the 2019 Kampala Child Protection Ordinance although they did not believe in the government capacity to finish all the street connected children from the street.