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Drivers sodomised
NewVision (Kampla)
Friday, 8th February, 2008
KENYAN RIOTERS SEXUALLY ASSAULT UGANDANS
By Chris Kiwawulo
A driver in one of the Uganda-bound trucks that were burnt in
Kenya recently
Robert (not real name), a 32-year-old Ugandan truck driver, had
gone to collect fuel from the Kenyan pipeline in Nakuru, when his
tanker was stopped by a gang of youth at a roadblock in Kaitui
near Kericho.
"The security had cleared our convoy of three trucks at the Busia
border crossing in the morning of January 31," the
visibly-traumatised man from Wakiso district said in Kampala on
Wednesday. "But at around 11:30am, when we reached Kaitui, a mob
of rioters blocked the road.
They ordered us out, beat us and threatened to hack us, while
others torched the trucks with petrol bombs."
Robert and his turn boy were taken to the side of the road where
they were ordered to strip naked.
"They touched our private parts and were making fun of us. Then,
two young men raped us."
Robert, who occasionally broke down in tears when narrating his
story, said the rioters accused Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni
of having helped his Kenyan counterpart Mwai Kibaki rig the
elections.
They also claimed that Uganda had sent soldiers to quell the riots
and shoot at protestors.
Denis, another driver who works in Northern Uganda, had gone to
collect a new car from Mombasa to earn some extra money.
He and his assistant were stopped at a road block at Kireta, near
Eldoret, and forced to drive to a homestead off the highway.
"They threatened to kill us claiming our president had sent troops
to Kenya to kill them. They beat us and didn"t care that we were
bleeding, he said.
Denis was separated from his assistant and told to remove his
clothes.
"They seemed to enjoy me undressing as they laughed as I stripped,"
he testified.
"One man asked me to bend over, warning me not to make any noise
or risk death. He told me: "I want to have fun with you from your
anus. I know it might be painful but you have no option." The man
then took me to a room and sodomised me throughout the night as
his colleagues kept vigil."
Denis does not want to go to hospital for treatment or tell his
wife, for fear of stigma or spoiling his marriage.
In Ugandan culture, anal sex among men is considered abominable,
whether it is forceful or by consent.
The stories of Robert and Denis are not isolated cases. Several
Ugandan drivers are believed to have been sodomised and beaten in
Kenya"s post-election violence.
As most victims are too embarrassed to disclose this experience,
it is difficult to ascertain the exact number. Ugandans might not
be the only victims. Kenya"s Daily Nation on Thursday reported an
increase in cases of sexual violence against women, girls and boys
in some of the displaced people"s camps in various parts of the
country.
"The Nairobi Women"s Hospital has, for example, provided treatment
and counselling to more than 200 victims of rape and sexual
assault," the paper reported. Among the victims were 12 men.
A United Nations report, released last week, found that rape was
being used as a weapon in Kenya"s conflict.
"It is being used as a tool to terrorise families and individuals
and precipitate their expulsion from their communities in which
they live," the spokesperson of the UN Humanitarian Office,
Elizabeth Byrs, told Voice of America.
She added that sexual violence was a symptom of the collapse of
social order in Kenya.
"The perpetrators are exploiting the conflict in order to commit
sexual violence with impunity."
She noted that victims had no access to health care or
psychological support, leaving them vulnerable to trauma and
health problems, including HIV/AIDS.
Asked about Ugandan drivers being sodomised, the spokesperson of
the Kenyan Government, Alfred Mutua, said they acknowledged the
problem.
"As a government we are sorry that the violence in our country
affected our neighbours, especially Uganda," he told Saturday
Vision in Kampala on Thursday.
"The new security arrangement, where Ugandan convoys are given
army escorts and air cover, should address these concerns," he
stressed.
"We have committed ourselves to ensure that we open up the road
from Mombasa to Malaba so that Uganda"s exports and imports can
pass without any problems. We have also set up armed escorts to
protect Ugandan goods and drivers."
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