What a naughty world! Once a symbol of joy, hope, and happiness, now surrendered to the wolves in the middle of the wilderness.
His candlelight is deemed at a thread size, blown by the wind from all directions whereas his future is turning darker every day.
He was swaddled, cuddled, kissed, tickled breastfed, and covered in his baby days…..now twelve months later, he is on his own hunting to survive on his own and his family before his time.
The vultures of the world are already taking him for a snack.
His age mates are somewhere in school learning the alphabet and the right spelling of their names but Geraldine Rahim Bakka, a 4-year-old boy is trending and tossed like a tennis ball in the arena of the bully world all over the internet.
At the age of four (4), the fatherless Bakka is already in the bad books of the local authorities and the Police for allegedly participating in deadly robberies executed between 9 PM and midnight while his age mates are cuddled to grasp a quick sleep to catch up with school the following day.
He has since stood in the interrogations chambers while his mother Namugerwa Rebecca 24, a mother of 3 is rotting on her sick bed helpless in a single room with her mother Nalunkuuma Teopista in a place called Ghetto Land situated in the wetland in Kibumbiro Busega along Northern Bypass.
The Bravo Shoes Community Support team took to the field for the fact-finding mission about Bakka’s situation and why he is a victim of circumstances.
Innocent as he looks, the young soul is truly in a dilemma because neither his family nor the community is ready to transform him.
A Visit to Nateete Police Station was a day to reckon with, the busiest office probably is room 08, a family unit section with ladies being frequent visitors. One interesting case though is a lady who comes in with a baby probably two to three months.
It is alleged that the baby was abandoned in the bag and the lady was sheltering the baby temporarily, away from that,
One Police officer we shall not mention her name here confirms that the file of Bakka was entered into the police records and the investigations were going on smoothly to arrest whoever was using him to steal people. At the time, they had two similar cases including that of Bakka.
Bravo Shoes Community Support team manages to reach out to the section in charge on a call but it wasn’t fruitful. However, the good news was that he was in the right hands of authorities with another organization hoping to help him, the National Children’s Authority.
Going to Kibumbiro LC offices, we interact with the area councilor Damba Sande, he acknowledges that the video going viral over the internet was captured by someone with personal intentions.
“Someone recorded it here. He was standing here when interrogated. I could not believe whatever was said about the kid. I told the OC to use the kid to arrest the perpetrators. We have an organization called the Ghetto land. The family is ware about everything happening around this kid,” he said.
According to Ddamba, there is a likelihood that the kid is coached and trained in robbery missions by criminal-minded people because, at his age, he fears the Police.
Gaddimba Fagaro, the Secretary for Environment and Development, Kibumbiro LC Zone B explained that the family has a criminal history, and apparently the status of the family is in dire need of help.
According to Nalunkuuma, she raised her daughter single-handedly in the house of a relative and it is a huge blow to her being in such a situation and being a victim of circumstance with everything around her family.
“She has been sick for 4 months. She can’t move without aid. I struggle to get what to eat or pay school fees because I can’t live alone to look for something to work. If I manage to get some clothes to wash, it is the only way we survive,” she said.
Gaddimba later led us to the Ghetto Land where the Bakka family is situated, the swampy area located near the Northern bypass is a habitat of about 500 people with 367 claiming ownership of plots demarcated in this forbidden and guarded territory feared by many on the allegation that it houses criminal people.
In this territory, bushy and swampy it is, one cannot doubt that other creatures find pleasure in it just like these humans. Being bushy wet, you can’t doubt if someone tells you that this is yet another habitat for creatures like frogs and snakes among others.
However, Isaac Katamba the uncle to Bakka found peace in this most feared area, his current house and the future 3-storeyed mansion are a dream to come through.