Security officials in Kabale District have commenced investigations to trace and recover a Rwandan child who reportedly went missing from Grace Villa, a sanctuary for Vulnerable children in the district, amid a long-running custody dispute between her parents.
The child, identified as Uneza Belinda Jessica, alias Akrima Akampurira, is the daughter of Merry Mushimimana, a Rwandan national and Moses Kampurira, a Ugandan national, who have been embroiled in a custody dispute since 2022.
The matter came to light when Mushimimana sought the intervention of the Minister of Local Government, Balaam Barugahara, during his anti-corruption campaign in Rubanda District over the weekend, reporting that her daughter had gone missing.
Minister Barugahara subsequently directed security agencies in Kabale and Rubanda districts to work together to establish the child’s whereabouts and facilitate her recovery.
The latest development comes against the backdrop of a custody dispute that dates back to 2022, when Mushimimana filed a case in the Chief Magistrate’s Court in Kabale seeking custody of her daughter, who had reportedly been placed in the care of her paternal grandmother.
In a ruling dated December 9, 2022, Grade One Magistrate Racheal Tabaruka granted Mushimimana custody of the child, noting that the girl had been separated from her biological mother at the age of four and placed under her grandmother’s care.
The court heard that the child’s father had left her in the grandmother’s custody while he worked in the Middle East and stayed in Kampala whenever he returned to Uganda.
In its ruling, the court observed that both parents have a constitutional right to care for and raise their children, adding that this right can only be restricted where a competent authority determines, in accordance with the law, that separation is in the child’s best interests.
The court further noted that the child had reportedly denied that Mushimimana was her biological mother and expressed fear of being taken away. The magistrate observed that the child’s behaviour suggested she required professional counselling before being reunited with her mother.
Consequently, the court ordered that the child be placed in a children’s home for two months to undergo counselling before being handed over to Mushimimana in the presence of a probation and social welfare officer.
The court also granted the father visitation rights after the child was handed over to her mother. However, it barred the paternal grandmother and other members of her family from accessing the child while she remained at the children’s home.
Reports indicate that the child went missing after her paternal grandmother visited her at Grace Villa, where she had been placed to receive psychosocial support and rehabilitation. The circumstances surrounding her disappearance remain under investigation.
On Wednesday evening, Kabale Resident District Commissioner Godfrey Katamba convened a meeting in his office with Mushimimana, intelligence officers from Kabale Central Police Station, a representative of Grace Villa and officials from the probation office to record statements that could assist in tracing the child.
Speaking to our reporter shortly after the meeting, Katamba said police had been tasked with investigating the circumstances surrounding the disappearance, locating the child and ensuring she was safely recovered and handed over to her mother in accordance with the court ruling.
Katamba pledged to pursue the matter to its conclusion and establish what happened to the child, whose disappearance has further complicated the protracted custody dispute.
CUE IN RDC KATAMBA… ON THE MATTER… ENG//
