BONELA issues ultimatum over Sebina scandal
Baboki Kayawe | Wednesday May 11, 2016 16:54
The Tutume Sub-District village has been the centre of nationwide attention after the leak of a purported Facebook conversation suggesting the defilement of a schoolgirl by a councillor and a subsequent attempt to help cover up by the Assistant Education Minister, Fidelis Molao.
Molao and the councillor, Kemmonye Amon, have denied the Facebook conversation or being involved in a cover-up. Molao, however, has admitted that Amon confessed to impregnating the schoolgirl to him in a telephone call.
Yesterday, BONELA delivered a strongly worded letter addressed to Dow and her local government and rural development counterpart, Slumber Tsogwane, demanding that they state the steps they took to safeguard the schoolgirl’s interests.
The human rights NGO threatened to approach the courts for relief.
“We have learnt with great concern that a child of about 16 years of age, and a registered student at Nata Senior Secondary School fell pregnant allegedly impregnated by the Sebina area councillor,” reads the letter authored by BONELA chair, Bonolo Dinokopila.
“As per the Children’s Act, in particular section 25 (4) thereof, your ministry and that of Local Government and Rural Development are under an obligation to devise or cause to be devised programmes to prevent the sexual exploitation of children, so as to ensure the protection of children from sexual exploitation.
“This is a great concern to us as an organisation that is working around the promotion and protection of children’s rights.”
The organisation notes that no action had been taken to date in pursuit of justice for the child.
“Therefore, BONELA accordingly calls on both ministries to hold duty bearers accountable as contained in Section 25 (2) of the Act, which outlaws failure by parents, teachers and other persons to report a case of child abuse or exploitation or conniving with a person who sexually abuses or exploits a child,” the letter states.
The BONELA chair said the organisation took the view that to deal with the problem of teenage pregnancy in schools, action should be taken against perpetrators and those failing to protect children from being victims of sexual abuse and exploitation, which in most cases leads also to “disruption of their enjoyment of the right to education”.