Earlier this month, Ugandan media reported that police authorities in Kampala were investigating a child trafficking network involving Achai who Ugandan media publications referred to as a South Sudan government minister.
In a statement, Achai dismissed the claims and said she was taking care of kids from her hometown Abyei whose parents were killed in multiple attacks by the Arab nomads Misseriya militia.
Read bellow the full-text statement by Achai.
STATEMENT ON THE RECENT ALLEGATIONS ON CHILD TRAFFICKING CHARGES LABELED AGAINST MY PERSON.
Dear all,
For the past few days, social media and multiple media outlets were awash with the news of my accusation in a Child trafficking case. It followed days after Uganda’s New Vision published allegations in a series of incriminating articles backed up with pictures of infants found by the police at my house in Kampala.
It did not take long for the gullibly unsuspecting South Sudanese to start captivating, demeaning, abusing, and assassinating my personality, even without hearing my side of the story. Whereas it is an admitted fact of life for people to draw personal opinions in the prevailing matters at hand, I must say that the extent to which people were spewing hate messages at me was shocking and unwarranted, considering how much sacrifices I have made for this country and her vulnerable people.
Notwithstanding, this write-up should be able to put to bed all the doubts and questions that have continuously lingered over your heads, for the past week. As you may be aware, our country is faced with a wide range of issues stemming from socioeconomic challenges to security problems. We have seen from time immemorial, our communities getting entangled in protracted clashes over cattle rustling or land disputes. My hometown, Abyei Area, has never been an exception. Many villages in Abyei are regularly ransacked, burned down, and have been often declared unlivable, in that they are – too hostile for civilians to inhabit. These are either attacks from the Misserya tribe of neighboring Sudan or communal conflicts resulting from land and border disputes. Recently, Abyei has come under gruesome attacks that led to massive displacements and the death of scores of innocent women and children.
Against this backdrop, it thus becomes IMPERATIVE to mention that, following the crisis in Abyei, several families were disintegrated, children lost their lives or parents and the ones that survived are, until today, grappling to sustain their livelihoods in displacement camps. The question, therefore, that many of you are asking is, whose babies are these allegedly trafficked by Achai Wiir? The babies are orphans of the deceased biological parents that had fallen victim to the Abyei Conflict.
The painful plight of these babies was brought to my attention by Alor Kuol Chol who was on the ground in Abyei during the deadly attacks – still unthwarted to date. Alor Kuol Chol and I held conversations about the dire need to provide both immediate and sustainable social security for these children.
As an unapologetic citizen of the Abyei Community, I guaranteed that my charity organization, the Achai Wiir Foundation, familiar to you all, shall cater to the upbringing of the babies until they are of age. Alor, with the help of the Achai Wiir Foundation collectively expedited the process of evacuation of the babies to Uganda where daily access to proper nutritional services for infants would be more than guaranteed. I sent my mother to Kampala to go supervise and ensure the babies were taken good care of and live protected. I wouldn’t have involved my mother if I had bad intentions. Who on earth would wish for bad to happen to their old ones?
And when the sudden news of my incrimination in a Child trafficking case emerged from Kampala, with the police demanding for their parents, Alor, who had subsequently assumed the legal parenting of the babies, was in Abyei. I called to inform him about the developing story and that he needed to get there as soon as possible to furnish the Ugandan police authorities with what they required. Unfortunately, the infrastructural conditions in Abyei meant that Alor would have a delayed travel plan to Juba, and then Kampala for questioning. I mean, the Abyei Airstrip that facilitates domestic flights to and from Juba has been rendered unusable – thanks to flooding. The Roads connecting Abyei and neighboring States are equally dysfunctional for the same reason.
In that regard, it became technically difficult for Alor to be present in Kampala to cooperate with the foregoing police investigations. However much that delay may have contributed to escalating the uncertainty surrounding the babies, it suffices to say that the Adoption documents detailing the parental status of the babies are being provided to the police in the week. The Ugandan Police Authorities will then be able to decide accordingly. Therefore, Am I then involved in what the New Vision – Uganda, calls “Child Trafficking Syndicate?” Before I even get to that, it is vital to reiterate and express my disappointment in the South Sudanese community whose degree of negativity and hate towards my person is regrettably the most devastating experience of my life.
I have mentioned earlier that, for everything I have done for the vulnerable people in this country, the South Sudanese overwhelming support and love have been an encouraging motivation for me. In a similar measure, I have been shocked that the same Junubin who have the practical knowledge of what I do through the Achai Wiir Foundation are desperately queuing up in all the attempts to destroy my reputation, by an invisible bunch of enemies.
Over the years, some of you have publicly denounced my philanthropic activities dictating that a genuine giver would not be parading her beneficiaries before Cameras when offering assistance. You have constantly argued that, by parading beneficiaries in front of Cameras, I am seeking cheap publicity and fame, discrediting my resolve to support vulnerable groups.
But surprisingly and again shockingly, the one time I extended incredible support to nearly dying babies without Cameras and publicity, someone had to dig out and manufacture charges against me. At what point in time, ya kwana Junubin, do you become objective in your judgment? What exactly makes people happy? Was I expected to position a crop of toddlers before the TV and announce that I needed to help them? These are babies whose lives must be dignified and I had that choice to make.
In that light, I wish to declare that I do not know or am I involved in any venture that rotates around Child Trafficking or in any business of the sort. The claims made by the alleged Whistleblower are maliciously manufactured fabrications intended to tarnish my personality and that of my family. But what exactly is Child Trafficking, anyways?
Oxford dictionary defines it – as an illegal movement of children for purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. In your honest mind, what sort of work can an 8-months old baby do? And talking of Sexual Exploitation as another component of Child Trafficking – are these babies even ripe to independently feed on their own, let alone engage them in a sexual activity? Even if you have the right to be biased, can people use their heads and simple logic to connect the right dots?
Lastly, I want to repeat that, I am not wealthy as many of you claim. I do not have money or huge assets to attain the status of material riches. But I have a big heart and love for people. I was raised running and hiding in thick bushes with my family. I was a refugee at some point in my life. I have witnessed untold hardship and suffering like every other South Sudanese. In all of these, I learned to share with people the last bit of what I have. What you seemingly push to be my ground for regret is the fact I have shared every little resource I earn from my ventures with the weak and poor. That is why I have been subjected to this harsh treatment. I will never hide away from helping poor people. I won’t change who I am to befit your schemes.
My experience only teaches South Sudanese the intention to help that they will be subjected to extremely excruciating circumstances if they offer support. It is gravely a dangerous thing if we all mean well for this country. Let’s never judge and crucify people until we know it all.
Thank you for reading.