By KT Reporter
Authorities in Moroto District have raised alarm over new tactics being used by child traffickers at Nadunget livestock market. The traffickers reportedly disguise themselves as traders seeking translation services, luring children by hiring them to interpret English into the local language. They allegedly befriend the children, build trust, and later traffic them.
LCV Female Councillor for Nadunget Sub-county, Mary Gorretti Longora, said children are massively trafficked during market days. She revealed that traffickers sometimes use school uniforms to disguise the children to beat security checks. She narrated a recent case in which a child trafficked to Teso was rescued after two years of being kept as a shepherd.
Longora said the district is working with security forces to intensify operations at roadblocks to intercept traffickers. Mt. Moroto Regional Police Spokesperson Mike Longole confirmed the growing trend, noting that several children have been trafficked from Karamoja and sold in Arapai Market in Soroti District.
He said recent joint operations with Soroti police led to the arrest of four suspects, including Philip Angolore, Moses Gulit, Simon Koryang, and Apul Marita—all linked to trafficking networks.
Longole said the suspects are in custody as police prepare their case files for court. Meanwhile, Stephen Kasaija, head of the Expanding Social Protection Programme at the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, attributed the trafficking to poverty in Karamoja households.
He urged parents to embrace government empowerment programs like the Parish Development Model, stressing that keeping children in school is the only sustainable way to end child labour and trafficking.
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