By Shamim Saad
Kawempe Muslims School has suspended 300 S.5 and S.6 students for one week for inciting a strike over what the students termed “poor diet and sanitation”.
Kawuzi Suleiman and Adam Buleya, who are in S.6, are said to have led the Thursday night strike.
The two were arrested and by Friday, they were still under detention at Kawempe police station.
Dormitories, fire extinguishers and notice board glasses were destroyed during the strike.
The aggrieved students said they were fed with half-cooked posho (maize meal) and that the saucepans used for cooking are not properly washed.
They were also fed up with other sanitary issues, which they claimed, put their lives at risk.
“We have only eight toilets which are not enough for all of us and over 2000 students use them. We tried to raise our issues but none of the administrators felt concerned,” one complained.
Other complaints came up. The students said that their teachers don't listen to their issues and instead end up suspending or expelling them unnecessarily.
Students also said that Dr. Ddumba Hassan, the disciplinary teacher, was the main cause of the strike because he "expels more than six students every week".
Police clashed with the striking students during the melee.
Scores of boys were beaten and about 30 girls sustained injuries when Police fired tear gas into their dormitories.The injured students were later admitted at Kyadondo Medical Centre.
But the school head, Buruhan Mugerwa played down the cause of the strike.
He claimed that the boys, unlike the girls, do not want to clean their dormitories, and added that the students and teachers are fed on the same type of food.
Mugerwa said the suspension will last for one week and that the students will each have to report back to school with sh50,000 meant for repairs.
