SOUTHERN PROVINCE

HUYE — Officials in Huye district have blamed the growing security threats in the district on the presence of street children.

The remarks were made on Thursday during an ordinary district security meeting. It is reported that many of these street children hail from neighboring districts claiming to be orphans.

According to authorities, the children indulge in drug abuse and trafficking, which is the major source of insecurity in the district.

Ildephonse Gasana, the district’s vice Mayor in charge of finance and development, says past efforts through a programme called "mapping” to establish where the children hail from has not been successful.

Gasana said they have been arresting some of them and putting them into jail for some days, but whenever released, they return to street.

"We are now planning to work closely with the administration of these other districts to find an immediate solution to this matter,” he says, adding that this would help to screen genuine orphans from the rest.

At the meeting, Gasana also called upon security agents, including community policing members, to join efforts to address the problem of street children.

Also present at the security meeting were executive secretaries of all sectors of Huye district, security agents, including police and military representatives.

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