Four survivors of 2023 Mpondwe Lhubiriha SS massacre sit UCE exams

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Kasese Secondary School, located in the Central Division of Kasese Municipality, has confirmed that four of the eleven survivors of the 2023 suspected Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebel attack on Mpondwe Lhubiriha Secondary School are sitting for the Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) exams.

Situated in Mpondwe-Lhubiriha Town Council, Kasese district, the school and the entire Nyabugando village experienced one of their darkest days when the ADF rebel attack left forty-five people brutally murdered, including thirty-eight students and seven community members.

Some of the students’ bodies were burned beyond recognition, requiring DNA testing to identify them before they were handed over to their families for burial. Ten students survived, while eleven others are suspected to have been abducted.

Joseph Nzukwa, the headteacher of Kasese Secondary School speaking to the candidates ahead of the 2025 UNEB UCE final exams. (Photo by Samuel Amanyire)

Speaking to New Vision on Monday, October 13, 2025, at the school premises, Joseph Nzukwa, the head teacher of Kasese Secondary School, disclosed that Rt Rev. Francis Aquirinus Kibira, Bishop of Kasese Catholic Diocese, mobilised the ten survivors from their respective families and sponsored their education at Kasese Secondary School.

He revealed that the survivors had lost hope of continuing their studies at Senior One and Senior Two levels before they were taken in by Bishop Kibira. Nzukwa listed the four who are sitting for this year’s Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) Senior Four exams as Jordan Masereka, Stefani Muhindo, Erias Kule, and Wilfred Aliganyira.

“The rest, including Joseph Isingoma, Edger Mumbere, Godwine Mumbere, David Tumusiime, and Moses Kato, are still in Senior Three,” Nzukwa said.

Survivors’ rehabilitation and learning progress

Nzukwa disclosed that it had been a gradual process to rehabilitate the traumatised students and prepare their minds for a new learning environment. He said this included daily counselling and psychosocial support, adding that even the Bishop spent a lot of time praying with them.

“It’s to our great pleasure that at last they have finally sat for their final exams,” Nzukwa said.

Testimony from survivors

Nzukwa revealed that one of the survivors recounted to him a terrifying experience in which he lay silently beside the bodies of his slain colleagues to save his life.

“The boy told me that he watched the men cutting his fellow students as they yelled loudly for help,” he said.

Nzukwa further said that although the ten students had largely recovered from their trauma, each year on June 16, their memories return to the tragic incident.

How the attackers paid for their crimes

According to ICT and national guidance state minister Godfrey Kabbyanga Baluku Kiime, all twelve ADF rebels responsible for the attack had been dealt with, saying twelve were killed while their commander, ‘Njovu’, was captured alive.

“But again, since then, we have amplified security in all the areas along the Uganda-DR Congo borderline to completely prevent such acts from ever happening again.”

“Additionally, Operation Shujaa, which is a coalition between our mighty army, the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) and FARDC for the DRC, have attacked and set ablaze most of the ADF camps in the forests of Congo,” he added.