The police in Jinja City have charged Hasifah Kasubo and Sofia Nakazibwe with negligence, the mothers of the two juveniles who drowned in Lake Victoria on Christmas Day, where they had gone to swim.

The development was confirmed by the Kiira Police Spokesperson on December 27, 2023, who said both parents are residents of Katende Cell, Bugembe Ward, Jinja City, Northern Division.

“On December 25, 2023, Kasubo, the mother of 12-year-old Fazili Mukungu, and Nakazibwe, the mother of 10-year-old Wambede, failed to protect their children, leading to their deaths,” Mubi said.

“The juveniles left home to attend a football match by themselves to celebrate Christmas. Unfortunately, they headed for the lake instead, where they went swimming with other boys at the Masese landing site, where they drowned,” Mubi added.

Richard Mutenyo, one of the eyewitnesses, said that one of the boys went swimming and disappeared in the water, which forced the friend to go in search of him, but he didn’t also return, which led to an alarm by the own lookers and a restless search of the boys.

“The first responder was overwhelmed by the water; he did not make it far into the water; he returned empty-handed,” Mutenyo said.

Mutenyo added that, when police arrived at the scene, one body had already been retrieved and brought to the shore by the locals.

“The bodies were retrieved at different intervals, one on the evening of Christmas day and the other on Boxing Day, after a long search by the police marine team, taken to the mortuary, and later handed over to their parents for burial,” Mubi said.

Police have urged adults to monitor the activities and movements of their children to avoid such incidences and criticized parents for choosing to spend time on Whats-app groups instead of attending to their children.