Timuna school is in a sorry state

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OPINION

By Eliphaz Ssekabira

President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni on September 1, 2024 caused a prolonged laughter at the closure of the three-day Mothers Union Buganda Conference at Timunah Schools in Luwero Town Council when he said that he thought he had been hijacked.

“First of all, I did not know that I was being hijacked because when they told me that I am going to Timuna, I knew the Timuna of Nakaseke.  There’s a Timuna there.  Now, Timuna of Nakaseke is very important in our history because just below the School (Timnah C/U Primary School) is where we planted a landmine which blew up Obote soldiers in August 1981.  So, I was looking forward to going back to Timuna, the one of Nakaseke”.

But when we got passed Wobulenzi, I saw the vehicles continuing. When we talked about it, Maama (Mrs. Janet Museveni) who is a more active Bible reader than myself, said that Timnah is in the Bible and I asked, you mean my Timuna of Nakaseke is in the Bible? said the president.

The Bible reference by His Excellence is in the old Testament book of Judges 14:1-20 Samson went down to Timnah in order to find a wife.  On his way there, he tore part a lion.  Samson married a “girl of philistines” from Timnah and posed a riddle for the men of Timnah which they were only able to resolve following the intervention of his wife.

It is not actually known when the early Christians at Timuna located in Sakabusolo Parish, Kasangombe Sub County in Nakaseke District took on the name.  In case of Timnah of Luwero, the proprietors of the two-year old multi-billion private primary school just copied the name from the Bible hence the puzzle.  Do the locals in Nakaseke have copy right of the name?

Having attended my Primary School at Timuna of Nakaseke (1979-1989) with the interruptions of the civil war (1980-1986), the Presidents’ remarks evoked trammatic memories of the war.  I’m still wondering why this incident was not captured in any post war writings for posterity.

I vividly recall after the assault on the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA) by National Resistance Army (NRA) rebels, the latter made a tactical mistake and retreated into the bushes leaving the local community to taste the revenge by the then government soldiers.

What transpired in the area was the mass killing of the locals gang-raping of women and defilement of minors, destruction of homes and institutional property among other atrocities.

Some locals were drowned in the nearby valley dam which had been constructed in 1970s as a water reservoir for Nakaseke General Hospital.

St. Appollo Kivebulaya Timuna Church of Uganda and its vicarage were not spared.  The pews, windows, doors, liturgical garments and literature were all burnt to ashes. 

The once model Timuna C/U Primary School was also vandalized, all the furniture, books, windows and doors were burnt.  The school became a “butcher” centre as government soldiers revenged on the locals for harboring the rebels.  No wonder by July 1985 at the fall of Milton Obote at the hands of short-lived Okello Lutwa Junta, the School was full of human skulls and bones.

What followed was untold suffering of the survivors who abandoned homesteads and took refuge in bushes with no functional healthcare system.  The temporary climax was the rebel’s advice to the locals in Nakaseke to “migrate” to Singo (current Kyankwanzi and Kiboga Districts) to escape the blood thirst government soldiers.

Mr. President, forty-three years after the deadly attack, your Timuna is a shadow of its former self. The school has two buildings which are due for condemnation.  Two years ago, one building was destroyed by the hailstorm and the community is still mobilising resources for its reconstruction. 

The new classroom block which was constructed by World Vision cannot fully accommodate the 300 learners. I am still wondering why the school did not get any building under the School facility Grant (SFG).

Your Excellence, Timuna Primary School has not registered any learner in the first grade for the last three academic years-2023, 2022 and 2020. 

According to the statistics from Nakaseke District education office a total of 81 learners registered for primary leaving examinations for the three years.

The results were quite disappointing for the three years combined, no first grade, 26 passing in grade two (three learners in 2023, 9 learners in 2022 and 14 learners in 2020, 26 passing in grade three (seven in 2023, seven in 2022, 12 in 2020) and 12 learners in fourth grade (six in 2023, one in 2022 and two in 2020). 

The most disappointing were the 15 ungraded learners (13 in 2023, one in 2022 and one in 2020). In the same period, two candidates did not show up for the end of cycle the examinations (one in 2022 and one in 2020).

Something must be done to reverse this trend, new classrooms, recruiting of the teachers and attitude change are some of the interventions needed in the area.

The nearby Timuna Community Secondary School is also limping with a student population of about 180 learners (senior one to senior six).  This private school cannot attract and retain   teachers.

The World Vision funded laboratory block is a white elephant with no laboratory equipment, reagents and science teachers. Government can take it over to benefit the surrounding parishes of Nakaseeta, Bulyake and Bukuku whose learners cannot treck to Kasangombe S.S, a government aided School located at Mpwedde, more than six kilometers from Timuna.

The only facility on Timuna hill to pride in is Biddabugya Health Centre 11.  It was started by the community with support from World Vision in 1988.  It was taken over by government in the 1990s. It recently got some facelift, new buildings built by government and it offers above average diagnostic and curative services.

Finally, Mr. President, the faithfuls in Timuna area have embarked on the construction of 500-seater temple of the Lord to replace the one vandalised by UNLA soldiers in 1981.  Government may not have the required 600 million now but in your wisdom, you can prevail over the Uganda Peoples Defense engineering brigade to put up a magnificiet and historical temple like the one you constructed at Masulita.

We look forward to receive you your Excellence at Timuna of Nakaseke District.

The writer is a journalist and a resident at Nakaseeta, Nakaseke District.