Students eager to vote

By Anthony Mugeere The election date might have been postponed but the tension remains high. The countdown continues and students in institutions of higher learning are, like most other Ugandans, eagerly awaiting to cast their votes to choose the man who will become the country's No.1 citizen for the next five years. Many students from Makerere University and other tertiary institutions had petitioned the Electoral Commission over how they would cast their votes since they registered in their villages last January. The Ministry of Education and Sports answered their call last week by instructing headteachers and principals of secondary schools and tertiary institutions to release the voting age students so that they can participate in next week's presidential elections. A statement issued by the Permanent Secretary, Mr. Lawrence Lubanga, said all headteachers of secondary schools and principals-directors of tertiary institutions are instructed to release the voting-age students in their schools and institutions for the electoral process. Last Thursday's postponement of the election day to next Monday however created uncertainty over when the students in boarding schools will return to school. Well, the Ministry of Education and Sports officials were yet to decide on the new date by Friday morning. The saga surrounding the repossession of Bat Valley Primary School continued during the week with Kampala City Council (KCC) insisting that it will not pay the sh3b demanded by the SSDM Company, the Asian group that is seeking to repossess the school. According to the Mayor, Mr. Ssebaana Kizito, KCC cannot pay the money being demanded by the Asian group because the council was managing the school on behalf of government. For starters, SSDM were running the school before former President Idi Amin's expulsion of the Asians. The Asians have since returned and are now demanding the re-possession of the school. Ssebaana however insists that KCC would not meet the claims since it had not been using the school as a commercial premise. It was a week of celebrations in Mbarara district after the release of the Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) results that had been retained on suspicion of cheating. Kellen Nuwamanya, the Mbarara district Inspector of Schools, says those schools suspected were found innocent although a few students were disqualified. The schools whose results were released include Mbarara Municipal, Uganda Martyrs, Kazaho, Kihiguru, Rutooma Modern and Bubare Primary Schools. Ends