By CAROL MATROO Wednesday, November 25 2009

FORMER Ugandan child soldier James Opito, was unable to attend the Commonwealth Youth Forum (CYF) as he missed his flight the day before.

It was unclear whether the missed flight was as a result of living about 400 miles away from the airport.

The CYF continued on board the Caribbean Princess which is docked at the Cruise Ship Complex in Port-of-Spain, yesterday.

And although it was assured that everything was in place, several media personnel still experienced problems getting on board the ships since some of the Secretariat staff appeared to not be apprised of proper accreditations and procedure.

The CYF brings together young people from the Commonwealth nations to discuss issues of contemporary importance. The inaugural Commonwealth Youth Forum was hosted by the government of the United Kingdom in Edinburgh, 1997. At this forum a strong foundation was built to ensure that the Commonwealth Youth Forum became an institutional part of the Common Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).

Although Opito was unable to make his presentation at the CYF, his friend, Kavuma Samuel, also a Ugandan, spoke to Newsday about the young man’s life as a child soldier and how he escaped from his captors. Samuel is a member of the National Youth Council and a student of computer science at Makerere University.

“He was about 16 when the rebel soldiers came and took him from his parents’ home. They took him away to the bushes which can be 300 to 400 kilometres away. He spent two years with the rebel soldiers before he was able to escape,” Samuel said.

Opito was forcibly taken from his home and made to work for rebel soldiers in his country, under the threat that they would kill his parents if he resisted or tried to escape.

“Child soldiers are abducted from their homes, while on their way to school...Sometimes the soldiers kill the parents so the child has nothing to come back to. They are forced to kill, carry heavy loads of food and equipments, some are even forced to rape women captives. If they become ill and can’t carry heavy loads, then they are killed,” Samuel said. He admitted that Opito had confessed to shooting villagers because he had no choice, but said his friend never indicated that he was involved in raping women.

After escaping from the rebel soldiers, Opito returned to his village and began working with the youth to show them a way out.

“James is now 23 years old and he works with young people, teaching them how they could make their lives better. He is also reaching out to the other child soldiers who are still with the rebels, trying to show them how they can find their way out, make a better life for themselves.” Samuel said.

Opito is currently studying biological science at Gulu University.