Is Hoima school falling prey to investors?

Jul 07, 2009

THE future of Hoima Public School hangs in the balance, following plans to phase it out to pave way for the construction of hotels, shopping malls, supermarkets and gardens. The 78-year-old school in Hoima town is the largest universal primary school in t

By Pascal Kwesigwa

THE future of Hoima Public School hangs in the balance, following plans to phase it out to pave way for the construction of hotels, shopping malls, supermarkets and gardens.

The 78-year-old school in Hoima town is the largest universal primary school in the district with over 1,500 pupils and 27 teachers.

It was constructed by Asians in 1930 and named Hoima Asian School. In the 1960s, the name changed to Hoima Public School to accommodate the local children. It was taken over by the Government following the expulsion of Asians by the then president Idi Amin in 1972.

On June 12, the secretary of the district land board, Edward Asiimwe, wrote a letter, arguing that the school structures were dilapidated and putting the pupils at a risk.

“The school is a danger to the pupils and the public,” reads the letter addressed to the Resident District Commissioner (RDC), the district chairman, the CAO and the district education officer.

The letter points out that part of the school is in a road reserve on an extremely busy highway, a route that connects Kampala and Buseruka on Lake Albert.

The letter advises parents who have children in the school to take them to other schools in Hoima Town Council. It adds that too many schools in the town centre cause congestion and traffic jams.

“The board was able to count four or more primary schools of a competitive level where parents could take their children,” the letter reads.

But parents and teachers are confused and enraged. The chairman of the school management committee, Aine Mbabazi, says the school should only be relocated and not sold out. He adds that this is the only government school with the largest enrolment, including children of civil servants in the district.

The LC2 chairman for Central Ward in Hoima town says: “I have four children in this school.Those who want to kill our school are not parents but enemies of the education of the poor man’s children.”

Mbabazi says the school is worried about the fate of the 27 teachers. “Other schools are saying they have no vacancies because their ceilings are sealed,” he says.

Another parent, Olivia Bakuza, says most of the schools in Hoima town are privately-owned and expensive.

Patrick Musinguzi is an old boy of the school where he now teaches. He says: “This is unfortunate and should not be accepted. They should be talking of relocating so that the name of the school remains.”

Last year, Hoima Town Council reportedly signed a memorandum of understanding with the Asian Association of Uganda to enable them (Asians) renew the lease and repossess the school.

This sparked off speculation from parents that some leaders in the town council had connived with the Asians to snatch part of the school land. But Hoima mayor, Francis Atugonza was reluctant to give a firm stand on the issue.

“We are only a planning authority and the school land is in the hands of the land board. People should go and ask the board why it wants to do away with the school,” he says. The Hoima district chairman, George Bagonza, affirms that the land board does not own land but manages it on behalf of the district. He says the land on which the school stands was reverted to the district in 1972.

“The law is very clear. When one’s lease expires, the land reverts to the leasee, which is Hoima district and nobody should touch that land,” Bagonza says. Bagonza vows to fight to protect the school.

Bagonza says the lease expired but the Asians wanted it extended and changed from leasehold to freehold which the district land board has rejected.

The rumour of land being sold is coming from people within the town council to discredit the district land board and alarm the public. The land has not been sold and nobody will sell it.

When he inquired from the land board whether anybody had applied to purchase the land, he was told that nobody had lodged any application.

“It is true the school has dilapidated structures but we shall manage it the way we manage UPE schools. The school is not shifting because they do not have money for relocation,” says Bagonza.

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