The bishop of Mukono Diocese, Enos Kitto Kagodo has banned promenade dances and parties in church schools saying he received negative reports from such events.

Bishop Kagodo says that reports indicate that "coupling" and drug abuse are always the order of the day at the promo parties whereby some students use drugs on that day specifically to get rid of shyness.

Promenade commonly called prom is a dance party for high school students. Lately, Uganda schools prefer a red carpet event where the male participants have formal black ties and suits while the girls have evening gowns. This event is typically held at or near the end of the school year.

" I've taken some time to study the promo parties in different schools.

I wonder where the practice originated from and the purpose of the whole thing. These parties as all similar in nature, promoting coupling and other indiscipline vices amongst the students.

“What is unfortunate is the fact that the students spend four years or six years when the school rules and regulations are taming them from coupling but on that fateful day, it is a must for students of the opposite sex to enjoy the day together without any encumbrance from the school authorities. That is not right,” the cleric said.

He made the announcement on Thursday while meeting the headteachers from the church-owned schools in the four districts of Mukono, Buikwe, Buvuma and Kayunga .

Mukono diocese has a total of 270 church-owned schools.

"Due to the proceedings of the promo parties, some students end up messing up their education career. Imagine, single schools end up going for opposite-sex partners from other single schools, what for?

Others end up pregnant just because of that one day,” the bishop said.

The chairperson of the Mukono diocesan headteachers’ association, Susan Wamala Sserunkuuma in a separate interview said that promo parties were not initially a bad idea but it was messed up by both parents, teachers and the students themselves.

Wamala, who doubles as the headteacher of Mukono Boarding Primary School said that though it had initially been an initiative for secondary schools, but of late, also some primary schools are making promo parties for candidates in Primary Seven.

Over the weekend social media has been awash with different comments about male and female student from a school in Bwebajja (Wakiso district ) who used a helicopter to fly to the Prom venue . Other students turned up with expensive cars a gesture which the public and the Ministry of Education condemned.

Dr. John Chrysostom Muyingo, the State Minister for Higher Education said it was unacceptable that such an act happened in Uganda.

Muyingo said that personally he had never thought of hiring a chopper, saying that given the fact that money is a scarce resource, even when the parent of that student had money, it was not proper to spend it in that manner.

“This is horrible; what message are they sending to our children? Where are we going?” stated Muyingo

Mukono bishop bans prom parties in church-founded schools

Bishop Kagodo says that reports indicate that "coupling" and drug abuse are always the order of the day at the promo parties whereby some students use drugs on that day specifically to get rid of shyness.

Bishop of Mukono Diocese, Enos Kitto Kagodo/File photo

Henry Nsubuga

Journalist @New Vision