A faith based charity organisation that claimed to cater for orphans in Uganda was left under the spotlight following an investigative report released October 14, 2017 by CNN.
The U.S.A based television network is up till now asking individuals who adopted Children through God’s Mercy Orphanage over the last decade to make affirmation, noting that their findings indicate that the would-be-safe home for youngsters was involved in trafficking of children and operated illegally. CNN also identified that the process of guardianship ordered by the organisation was fraudulently done.
Their findings unearthed God’s Mercy Orphanage connection to European Adoption Consultants (EAC), an agency whose headquarters are located in a business park in Strongsville, Ohio, outside Cleveland.
EAC had sold off more than 2,000 overseas children in US homes since the early 1990s before the State Department debarred the agency in December.
The CNN investigation showed all of the guardianship orders processed for children from God’s Mercy were done through a Ugandan law firm that was dealing directly with EAC, according to the letter, which was signed by Pius Bigirimana, permanent secretary for Uganda’s Ministry of Gender, Labor and Social Development.
CNN said the alleged trafficking scheme found that children were being taken from their homes in Uganda on the promise of better schooling, placed into orphanages even though they aren’t orphans, and sold for as much as $15,000 each to unsuspecting American families.
These findings have prompted police to pick up interest and launch investigations in the alleged illegal child adoption schemes.
Police spokesperson Asan Kasingye told media reporters on Monday that an investigation “is going to be lodged to establish how many more of such cases have occurred and those behind these dealings.”
“We want to know how many more cases are out there and who is responsible,” Kasingye said.
“This is something Ugandans must not keep quiet about. A parent gives up their child thinking that by going abroad, they are getting good care, not knowing that by law they have ceased to be parents,” he added.
Keren Riley of Reunite, a Ugandan organization that helps return trafficked children to their birth mothers, told CNN facilitators on the ground prey on vulnerable moms, often widows, promising educational opportunities for their children.
CNN however noted that Uganda’s government shut down God’s Mercy orphanage.
marvin@ugchristiannews.com
