Kampala High School on sale

Oct 18, 2006

KAMPALA High School board is selling the school property on Sir Apollo Kaggwa Road in the city and relocate to Nabweru in Wakiso district.

By John Eremu
KAMPALA High School board is selling the school property on Sir Apollo Kaggwa Road in the city and relocate to Nabweru in Wakiso district.
A city tycoon is said to have offered sh1.2b for the two-acre piece of land for a hotel, but officials deny this. The deal, opposed by some teachers and board members, was resolved in what sources described as a controversial vote by the board in a meeting on October 3, 2006.
Hajji Abbey Mukwaya, the senior presidential adviser on political affairs, chairs the board.
Under minute number 6/6 of 2006, the board also resolved to immediately purchase Plot No. 3312 Block 203 Nabweru, a 3.5-acre land, that houses Crown High School.
But those opposed to the sale said the voting was not transparent because members were asked to indicate their names on the ballots. They said the transaction was driven by selfish motives.
“How do you sell off prime land in the city in preference to a rural one,” wondered a teacher.
The anti-sale group say Crown High was too remote to attract high enrollment and that relocating the school to another district would not only create complications with staff records, but that Kampala High would also lose the six teachers flats in Kitante.
Efforts to get a comment from Mukwaya were futile. Nobody answered his office telephone while his mobile phone was off.
However, his vice, Hajji Mudirikat Mukasa and the headmaster, Suleman Habib, said the premises and the site to which they were relocating were better.
“Those opposing the shift are teachers who moonlight in many schools and they fear that if we move to an organised place, they would not have time to escape,” Suleman said.
Mukasa said there was no better way to ensure transparency during the ‘secret ballot voting’ than having the members indicate their names on the ballot. He said only two board members voted against the sale.
The board communicated its decision to the Ministry of Education on Monday.
The ministry spokesman, Aggrey Kibenge, said the ministry would first study the situation.
However, another ministry official warned that any sale and purchase must be done in accordance with the public procurement and disposal of assets regulations.
The land on sale was bought in 1984 through the Parents and Teachers Association (PTA) fund but remained idle until 1999 when Kampala High was evicted from rented premises on Namirembe Road over rent default. All the school property was confiscated.
Makeshift structures were hastily erected at the present site to accommodate the school. The school moved to the rented premises in 1998 after Aga Khan repossessed its buildings on Makerere Road.
Suleman and Mukasa dismissed allegations that the school was being sold because of personal interests. “It is a Ugandan attitude that whenever there is a transaction, somebody has personally benefited.
“The board represents the Government and has credible members who cannot take irrational decisions. The decision is in the best interest of the students,” Mukasa said.
Suleman said the school was on a wetland and at least $2m (about sh3b) would be needed to erect structures approved by Kampala City Council.
“This place has no electricity. Whenever it rains, the is flooded, nearby pit latrines are emptied into the channel that drains through the school. Anyone who wishes us to stay here is an enemy of humanity,” Suleman said.
He said the new site has 15 classrooms, a large staffroom, two staff houses and another three-storey block near completion.
Other facilities are piped water, a borehole, electricity, a fence and furniture.
He said any balance from the sale of the Sir Apollo Kaggwa Road land will be used to complete the structures, get transport for the students and staff and strengthening the boarding section. He said of the 38 teachers, 33 endorsed the shift.
Ends

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