UPDF deployed to enforce closure of unlicensed Wakiso school
Wakiso inspector of schools Simon Ssekamatte said the deployment followed reports that Rosete Junior School in Ssenge, Wakiso town council, had defied the closure order.
The inspector of Schools in Wakiso district, Simon Ssekamatte (centre), giving instructions to the UPDF soldiers who are now guarding Rosete Junior School at Ssenge in Wakiso district recently. (Photos by Job Nantakiika)
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Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) soldiers have been deployed to guard a school in Wakiso district after education authorities received information that it had continued operating despite being ordered to shut down.
Wakiso inspector of schools Simon Ssekamatte said the deployment followed reports that Rosete Junior School in Ssenge, Wakiso town council, had defied the closure order.
“I recently came here and closed this school, but the owners have remained adamant, and they are continuing to teach, yet I gave them enough time to organise themselves. To make it worse, the owners of the school are not known,” said Ssekamatte.
Ssekamatte made the remarks while inspecting Rosete Junior School in Ssenge, Wakiso Town Council, Wakiso district, on July 1, 2026.
According to Ssekamatte, the school lacked an operating licence, had substandard buildings and did not have qualified teachers.
He advised parents to transfer their children to nearby government schools, including Yowana Maria Primary School in Kayunga and Kisimbiri Church of Uganda Primary School.
One of the structures at Rosete Junior school Ssenge in Wakiso town council, Wakiso district. The school is now being guarded by the army.
Ssekamatte said the UPDF would remain at the school until the proprietors complied with the required standards.
At Precious Oil Junior School, Ssekamatte found that the school had no operating licence and no qualified teachers. Some of the teachers informed him that they were still studying at teacher training colleges.
The proprietor of Precious Oil Junior School, Damali Nabbuto, told Ssekamatte that she was in the process of obtaining an operating licence.
“Now, if you close my school, where am I going to get what to eat after retiring as a teacher? What am I going to depend on?” Nabbuto lamented.
Despite her plea, Ssekamatte gave her a one-week ultimatum to comply with the licensing requirements, warning that the school would otherwise be closed.
At Haven Kindergarten and Junior School in Wakiso town council, Ssekamatte ordered the closure of the boarding section after finding that boys and girls were sharing the same dormitory.
The school also lacked an operating licence, and Ssekamatte gave its management one week to rectify the shortcomings.
The head teacher, Juliet Nanjuki, pleaded with Ssekamatte to reconsider the closure of the boarding section over the accommodation arrangements, but he declined.
The acting district education officer for Wakiso district, Prim Ritah Nanyanzi, said that during a meeting with school owners and head teachers before the start of the term, they had been warned against operating schools that did not meet the required standards.
According to Nanyanzi, schools that failed to meet the requirements had been advised not to reopen for the new term.
She added that the district had now begun operations to close all schools operating without meeting the required standards.