Six Ntungamo officials charged over UPE ghost pupils

________________________

Six Ntungamo District officials, including the district education officer (DEO), a municipal education officer, and five head teachers, were on Tuesday, March 11, 2025, charged before the Anti-Corruption Court with causing financial loss and abuse of office.

The State House Anti-Corruption Unit (SHACU), in a statement, noted, “working with the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), we have before the Anti-Corruption Division Court six Ntungamo district officials, including the District Education Officer, a Municipal Education Officer and five head teachers on charges of Causing Financial Loss and Abuse of Office.”

The six were identified as Fred Bahati, the district education officer; Gordom Nabaasa, the municipal education officer; Abias Nabasa Rushegyera, the former head teacher of Ntungamo Primary School; Allen Komuhangi, the head teacher of Ruhuko Primary School; Bernards Munuunura, the head teacher of Maato Primary School; and Geoffrey Ntereire, the head teacher of Kikoni SDA Primary School.

SHACU stated that the accused, employed by the Ntungamo District Local Government and various government schools in the district, had been inflating pupil numbers to receive more capitation grants from the government.

Investigations revealed that for the 2023/2024 financial year, the Ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development had been paying capitation grants for 124,817 pupils in 249 Universal Primary Education (UPE) schools in Ntungamo district, according to Ministry of Education records. 

However, it was discovered that the district had only about 80,000 pupils, rather than the 121,094 pupils reported by the Ministry. This discrepancy suggested the presence of over 40,000 “ghost” pupils, leading to a financial loss of approximately sh1b.

“Our investigation attributed this loss to several factors: inflated pupil numbers; headteachers in UPE schools inflated the number of pupils they reported to the District Education Department, hoping to receive more capitation grants,” SHACU stated.

The report also pointed to negligence by the District Education Department. “The District Education Department failed to verify the pupil numbers submitted by the UPE headteachers before forwarding them to the Ministry of Education. This ultimately led to the Ministry of Finance receiving incorrect data, which was used for financial releases.”

SHACU further noted that findings indicated UPE head teachers had not followed proper guidelines for spending capitation and education grants. “Most headteachers lacked any accountabilities for the funds, and the District Education Department failed to demand accountability before facilitating subsequent financial releases,” the statement said.

Additionally, SHACU revealed that two teachers, Marsaile Tunanukye and Molly Nkumiriza, would also be arraigned before the Ntungamo Chief Magistrate’s Court on charges of conspiracy to defeat justice. They allegedly interfered with an investigation into pupil enrolment at Nyakasi Primary School by transferring nursery pupils to primary one.