Police is hunting for a South Sudanese woman identified as Monica Akello, who is believed to have contracted a Wakiso-based doctor, Gerald Akankwasa, who has been questioned over a two-month-old baby rescued from human traffickers.
Akankwasa and two other suspects — Kenneth Kayondo, a resident and salesman for South Sudan Pharmacy and Christine Nambi — were arrested on Sunday by security operatives, who accused them of attempting to purchase a child.
Criminal Investigations Directorate spokesperson Charles Twine confirmed Akankwasa’s arrest, but declined to reveal further information for fear of jeopardising investigations, adding that several suspects were on the run.
Police also revealed that detectives recovered sh64m from the two vehicles that the suspects had reportedly travelled in when they were arrested from a motel in Nalukolongo in Kampala.
Police sources who spoke to New Vision noted that the suspects, upon being questioned, claimed they were buying the child so that it could be adopted by Akello, who had spent two weeks in Buziga, a city suburb, looking for a child. However, by the time detectives raided the Buziga apartment, Akello had reportedly fled.
It was not yet clear why Akello wanted the child, but Police sources say it was possible that she might have deceived someone that she was pregnant.
The three suspects were arrested after Police, working with a non-governmental organisation, Make a Child Smile, laid a trap.
In a statement released on Sunday, Police noted that they received information on August 8 that Akankwasa was allegedly looking for a child to buy for his South Sudan customer at sh20m. Make a Child Smile was called on board to help in the operation.
“Upon intercepting the information, detectives, plus the Make a Child Smile team, was dispatched with a baby girl aged 2-3 months to verify the suspects’ motive. The three suspects, Kayondo, Akankwasa and Nambi, met our team and the parents at the motel, where the suspects offered sh20m cash to buy the child,” Police said.
Christine Nambi
Police noted that the team, upon confirming the suspects’ mission, arrested them and, that, upon searching their vehicles (registration withheld), recovered a total of sh64m stashed in several envelopes.
“The alleged cash and the two vehicles in which the suspects were allegedly going to transport the child upon buying her were exhibited.
Statements were also recorded from the witnesses, that is, the child’s parents and the people the suspects approached for the alleged transaction,” Police said.
The arrests come in the wake of efforts by the Government to fight human trafficking, which has had several Ugandan children sold to foreigners, while others have been sold to witchdoctors for human sacrifice.
