Seven children go hungry as mother rots in Kigo prison

ALAN MWESIGWA 

Fifteen-year-old Akello Suzan is struggling to fend for her six siblings after their mother Achilo Lillian was arrested more than a month ago, for defying the Covid-19 curfew.

A single mother, Achilo was the sole breadwinner.

Akello and her siblings live in a dilapidated house in Namuwongo, on the outskirts of Kampala.

She told us that the youngest sibling had spent the entire night crying because they did not eat anything.

"He did not sleep all the night as he cried demanding for food which I did not have” a tearful Akello said.

Their mother Achilo Lillian used to vend fruits in Kampala.

However on March 29, she was arrested by security personnel after they found her going home past 7.00PM, when the curfew starts.

She was later arraigned before court and remanded to Kigo Prison.

“We heard from a neighbor that our mother was arrested. We thought she would be released soon but until now we have not heard from her," Akello said.

The children now survive on the mercy of good samaritans.

Akello said their father, John Okello got crippled in an accident three years back and was taken back to Gulu.

"By the time they took him to village, he could not even speak," Akello said.

Margret Saku, a local leader, said they had done their best but they had now run out of money.

"We have done all we can for the close to two months but we are unable to continue. If  there is anyone who can come to the rescue of these young ones, we welcome you," she said.

Hood Kalulu, a youth leader in the area said when it rains, the children don’t sleep because the house leaks.

Meanwhile the landlord is demanding rent for ten months.

“Why can't lawyers help such that Achilo is released? She only went to the streets to find food for her children,” Kalulu said.