The Ssembabule Woman Member of Parliament Mary Begumisa has tasked the government to embark on the campaign of alleviating all children with Mental Disabilities on Kampala City streets.
Begumisa, 45, articulated that the government has been reluctant on alleviating the loitering and mentally disabled children within the City.
” I call upon the government and the Ministry of Gender to look into the issue of mentally disoriented people on road sides of Uganda, mainly Kampala City in perticular,” said Begumisa also the Founder of Mary Begumisa foundation that takes care of the people with Disability and deprived families.
She says that such increasing number of children on streets paint unclear and disgusting image to the country and the tourism sector in particular.
”Many stone people’s vehicles others walk naked and government promises to take them off the road died a natural cold death,” she admittedly shared.
Begumisa also a Bachelors Degree holder in social science at Makerere University shared that it is the government’s mandate to work in unison with the community to alleviate all irregularities in the country since such people with health impairments are of a security concern.
She added that the country has many rehabilitation Centres where those type of people can be taken to be checked and treated but it all ends in vain because the Government have not put in much emphasis about the issue.
The government of Uganda spends an estimated 2% of its health budget on mental health.
The vast majority of this goes to Butabika; the big abusive psychiatric hospital in Kampala.
Mental Disability is estimated at 12% of the population with Disability yet 22% of the unemployed Ugandans become victims of mental Disability.
According to the National House Hold survey conducted in 2009 indicated that poverty rate in house holds where three was a person with Disability were 30% higher.
The Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) has always been integral in removing the disabled children on streets and the government’s failure to support them left the Authorities in total disappointment.
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