By Today March 27, 2025, five individuals—Twaha Kasaijja (also known as Salongo or Musiramu), Ismail Kisambu, Muhammed Nabanji, Sadat Nsubuga, and Twaha Mutebi (also known as Sheikh)—were presented before Chief Magistrate Ronald Kayizzi at Buganda Road Court. The court committed them to the International Crimes Division (ICD) of the High Court to face trial on charges including aggravated trafficking in children and terrorism.
The charges comprise one count of belonging or professing to belong to a terrorist organization, one count of rendering support to a terrorist organization, and seven counts of aggravated trafficking in children. The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) alleges that the accused were involved in recruiting and transporting children to Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) camps in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The methods purportedly used include fraud, abuse of power, and deception to exploit children under 18 for purposes such as sexual exploitation, forced labor, forced marriage, and involvement in armed conflict.
The indictment details that in 2023, intelligence reports indicated that approximately twelve residents from Lower and Upper Konge Zone in Makindye Division, Kampala, had sold their properties and disappeared. Among them was Abdurahaman Ssemanda, who sold his butcher shop for 23 million Ugandan shillings. Further investigations revealed that Kasaijja received a phone number from an unidentified ADF commander in the DRC, instructing him to contact the number for additional recruits to be transported to the Mpondwe border.
Evidence cited by the DPP includes mobile phones, call data records, forensic reports, and other materials indicating the accused’s involvement in these activities. For instance, the DPP asserts that the accused’s mobile phones contain information related to their association with the ADF and activities involving aggravated child trafficking.
Admissions from the accused include Nabanji’s acknowledgment of taking his three children, aged 6, 8, and 10, to ADF camps in the DRC in 2011. Similarly, Kisambu admitted to recruiting and handing over his own children, aged 4, 7, and 11, to Nsubuga, who then transported them to ADF camps in eastern DRC; these children have not returned since.
The DPP also references a 2015 case where a rescued victim confirmed being trafficked alongside her siblings and other children who have yet to return. The prosecution intends to present additional evidence, including court orders, forensic reports, and communication records, to substantiate the charges against the accused.
The ADF has a notorious history of recruiting children for combat and other exploitative purposes. This case underscores the persistent challenges faced by Ugandan authorities in combating child trafficking and terrorism-related activities within the region.
