Mother Arrested for Abandoning Child at Wakiso Guesthouse

Police in Wakiso District have arrested a woman accused of abandoning her child at a guesthouse before disappearing.

The suspect has been identified as Mutume Fatuma, who has since been charged with child abuse.

According to police, the incident happened on March 28 at Kajajata Guesthouse in Gulaga B, Wakiso.

Fatuma reportedly checked into the lodge with a man identifying himself as the husband and later left the child behind with the management, claiming they were stepping out briefly to withdraw money to pay for the room the couple had booked.

However, they failed to return.

Providing an update on the case, Kampala Metropolitan Police Deputy Spokesperson Luke Owoyesigyire said the couple disappeared after leaving the child at the facility.

“When we arrested the mother of the child, Mutume Fatuma, she was charged with child abuse. This is after, on the 28th of March, she left her child with the management of the lodge under the pretext that she had gone to withdraw money to pay her hotel room,” Owoyesigyire said.

Police say the couple vanished for days, leaving the child under the care of the lodge management.

However, in a surprising turn of events, she later returned to the guesthouse.

“Since then she disappeared, but along the way the heart of the parent came back and she returned to the lodge to trace for the child and also the phone that had been left behind. That is how we arrested her,” Owoyesigyire added.

Fatuma is now detained at Gulaga Police Station and is expected to be produced in court.

Meanwhile, the abandoned child remains under the care of probation officers.

Owoyesigyire says arrangements are being made to place the child in a safe home while efforts continue to trace the father and other relatives.