How children, the disabled traffic drugs at border

A young man sits inside a dark abandoned stall in Busia’s Sofia market; one of the busiest centres in the county.

His old sisal hat obscures his face, covering his eyes almost completely. He is engrossed on his phone, typing furiously and occasionally raising his head to sip on a bottle of cheap liquor placed delicately on his old chair.

A little boy, about 10 years old, runs towards him and startles him from his world. They engage in animated talk, with the boy constantly pointing at a place beyond the market. The man nods, gets inside the stall and comes out with an unmarked carton box.

The boy, who we can’t name because he is underage, grabs the box. His back bends immediately from the impact of the weight.

He, however, trudges on, carrying the box while shifting uncomfortably with every step.

Another man seated on an old rickety wheelchair starts rolling towards him. He increases speed as the boy edges closer. When they meet, the boy loads the box on a wooden carriage constructed beneath the wheelchair. He then pushes the man on the wheelchair out of the market, sometimes bending to reposition the box underneath when they hit a stone.

Their destination? Uganda.

It is an activity hundreds of children have mastered.

Every day, they wake up to push disabled people who throng the market to provide transportation to businessmen ferrying goods from Kenya to Uganda.

They form part of the confusing tapestry that define Sofia market.

Amid the fleet of lorries that snake their way to the centre daily, and the many customers always on standby to buy what Uganda has to provide, nobody seems to notice the children slipping in and out of Kenya.

They paint the perfect picture of vulnerability. A disabled person and a young child, slowly and steadily braving the scorching sun to cross the border.

Most times, locals say, they pass unchecked.

“People feel sorry for them, and it feels inhuman to subject them for vigorous checks others undergo at the border,” says a trader.

The boy says they are always up by the crack of dawn. They mill around, waiting for the disabled transporters who start streaming in by 5am.

Pushing them into Kenya are another team of childrenfrom Uganda, or the ones who crossed from Kenya the previous day, and are returning after sleeping in the cold on the other side.

Huge problem

Busia OCPD Masai Makau says he cannot rule out possibility of the disabled and children ferrying drugs and contraband items, but quickly adds that they only ferry goods to Uganda. “Nothing illegal gets into Kenya,” he says, adding that security at the Kenyan border is too tight for Ugandans to cross with illegal goods.

The Ugandan side, Mr Makau says, seems to have laxity that could be allowing the disabled to cross unchecked.

He says he does not understand why the Ugandan government turns a blind eye to the activities that may look innocent on the surface, but could be movement of heaps of illicit goods into Uganda in reality. He says they have set up a multi-faceted team to handle all children found engaging in economic activities.

“This is a huge problem. But we are working on it, and soon, we will not have a single child doing it,” he says. ?

A survey conducted last year by the National Authority for the Campaign against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (Nacada), Busia County government and the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), puts the children at the centre of illicit activities, including drug peddling.

Peddlers have deployed several means of bringing in the drugs, including use of physically challenged persons, the young and elderly women.

The survey that interviewed 698 respondents from the seven constituencies in Busia -- Budalang’i, Funyula, Matayos, Butula, Nambale, Teso South and Teso North -- revealed that police officers collude with drug peddlers to smuggle in drugs.

Adulterated alcohol, chang’aa, traditional liquor and bhang are among the most likely to be peddled.

Lucrative trade

Okesho Bruno, one of the disabled people who come to Kenya daily, says he does not know what is put in his carriage, but is often paid depending on the size of the package.
“We charge between Sh200-1,000 per trip but we never ask what is in the package,” he says.

A woman in a wheelchair says they prefer to use childrento push them because they do not overcharge them.

“We pay Sh100-200 from Kenya to Uganda. Sometimes they push us for free,” she says.

Patrice Lumumba, the county’s Director for Alcoholic Drinks and Drug Abuse Control, acknowledges there is exploitation of children in the border town, but says accusing them of drug peddling is far-fetched.

He says peddling in the region is mostly done by boda boda riders and small car owners who have found ways of avoiding border checks.

Most of the disabled people who provide transport services are used to ferry groceries and goods such as cooking oil.

[email protected]