Ministry blocks Kololo High School eviction

Jan 28, 2005

THE Kololo High school saga has taken a dramatic twist with the ministry of education directing the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council (UMSC) to withdraw the offer of the school premises to Haks Express Limited.

By John Eremu

THE Kololo High school saga has taken a dramatic twist with the ministry of education directing the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council (UMSC) to withdraw the offer of the school premises to Haks Express Limited.

In a letter to the Mufti, Sheikh Ramathan Mubajje, the ministry said it was wrong for the foundation body to evict a government-aided school without informing the ministry and without giving the two-year statutory notice to allow the school to be phased out.

The ministry has also given UMSC a one-week ultimatum to decide whether it is no longer interested in the very school it founded.

“In case you want the school phased out, you have to indicate this to us in writing before January 28, 2005 so that the process of phasing out begins with effect from the school calendar year 2005,” Yusuf Nsubuga, the commissioner for secondary education, said in the January 21, 2005 letter.

The ministry has also written to the Solicitor General to block Haks Express from taking over the school premises on Plot 102 William Street and to see the possibility of taking legal action against the proprietors.

The school was on January 10, 2005 evicted by Haks Express, which has secured a sub-lease from UMSC to run the premises for the next 20 years at sh600m.

Nsubuga’s letter was copied to the Inspector General of Government, the inspector General of Police and the UMSC secretary general, Dr. Edirisa Kasenene.

Kasenene said he had not yet received the letter but said it would be discussed by the UMSC executive and a reply made to the ministry, when the letter comes.

Dr. Richard Akankwasa, the director of education, said the abrupt eviction of the school would jeopardise the plight of over 500 students.

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