Controversy over City High School ownership
Dec 01, 2009
CONTROVERSY has arisen over the repossession and management of City High School. The Indian Association of Uganda has written to the Ministry of Education claiming that they are the registered trustees of the school, a claim disputed by another group back
SPOTLIGHT
By John Eremu and Chris Kiwawulo
CONTROVERSY has arisen over the repossession and management of City High School. The Indian Association of Uganda has written to the Ministry of Education claiming that they are the registered trustees of the school, a claim disputed by another group backed by the school administration and parents.
The Indian Association, through their chairman Rajni Tailor, demands to be part of the school management, a move opposed by the school administration and the parents as a ploy to take over the school and turn it into something else.
“Where have they been all these years?†wondered Paul Oluka, the president of Parents’ Association Kampala (PAK), who claim to be the rightful trustees of the school located on a seven-acre piece of land on Roscoe Road in the upmarket Kololo suburb.
To support their claim, Oluka produced a February 20, 2008 letter from lands minister Omara Atubo, which duly registered them as trustees.
“These people are trying to repossess a school which has never been their property. This school was started in 1965 with parents as the foundation body but with a board of trustees which owned the land and the buildings. It remained a community school until 1974 when the community failed to manage it without Government input,†he says.
But Tailor who also heads another PAK insists that they were the genuine trustees and duly registered with the Ministry of Lands. He instead accused Oluka’s faction of trying to grab the school.
“It is these people who want to grab our property,†Tailor told The New Vision by telephone.
“The school belongs to us and we got the repossession certificate. What our forefathers gave us nobody will take away. The Government got involved in the management following the expulsion of Asians in 1972. The Government grant is to the students and not the owners. We appreciate the Government grant but that does mean they own the property,†he says.
When contacted, lands minister, Omara Atubo, said as far as he knew, PAK of the Oluka faction were the registered trustees until the property is repossessed.
“If the finance ministry has allowed the Indian Association to repossess the school, they will come and we register them as the new trustees,†Atubo said. “As for now, the parents’ association is the recognised trustee of the school. The Indian Association has to wait for the legal process to take place before repossessing it,â€Â Atubo added.
However, Tailor disagrees. He says they repossessed the school way back in 2002, under Repossession Certificate Number 3416, but that they have never taken physical repossession.
He promises that the school, which is home to 1,200 students will not be phased out but that they simply want to come in to re-develop it and protect the school’s land from further encroachment.
“We do not wish to displace the school but only to participate it its management,†Tailor said in his March 9, 2009 letter to education minister, Geraldine Bitamazire.
“We also wish to develop the school and to save it from encroachers. Already part of the school land has been sold off by the current management of City High School,†he added. But Oluka said it was a member of the previous executive that sold part of the school land to energy minister Hilary Onek and that the issue was before court.
The school has, since 2004, been involved in a number of land disputes since its lease expired. In 2004, the school trustees, then headed by city lawyer Dalton Oponya, resolved to sell part of the school land to pay for a sh50m premium demanded by the city authorities for lease extension. The decision was reached after the Ministry of Education turned down a request to bail out the school.
The ministry instead authorised the school to increase fees to clear the deficit. In April 2005, a UPDF soldier only identified as Lt. Kagolo fenced off part of the school land, about an acre, under unclear circumstances, but the fence was later pulled down by the students.
When contacted, both the headmistress, Claire Nduhura and the chairperson Board of Governors, Rev. Can. Job Bukure, referred The New Vision to Bitamazire who confirmed receiving Tailor’s letter. She, however, said she had instituted her own investigations because the issue is ‘complex.’ She said she will meet both parties as soon as her probe is over and that no party should rush to court.
Tailor said going to court would be the last resort. “If we wanted to go to court, we would have done so as soon as we got the repossession certificate.
“But we are negotiating to be part of management. We are here for development. That school belongs to the people and there are very few Asian children there if any.â€
But Oluka dismissed the claims. “If these people claim to be the rightful trustees, then why are they requesting to be allowed to be part of the school management?†he asked.
Oluka explained that PAK membership was clearly spelt out in its constitution and the Asian Association could only come on board as a donor.
The constitution spells out the various categories of members. Parents whose children are in the school automatically become members.
The other categories of members include patrons who pay an annual subscription of sh1m or over, sh500,000 and above, sh250,000 or more and associate members with sh5,000.
By John Eremu and Chris Kiwawulo
CONTROVERSY has arisen over the repossession and management of City High School. The Indian Association of Uganda has written to the Ministry of Education claiming that they are the registered trustees of the school, a claim disputed by another group backed by the school administration and parents.
The Indian Association, through their chairman Rajni Tailor, demands to be part of the school management, a move opposed by the school administration and the parents as a ploy to take over the school and turn it into something else.
“Where have they been all these years?†wondered Paul Oluka, the president of Parents’ Association Kampala (PAK), who claim to be the rightful trustees of the school located on a seven-acre piece of land on Roscoe Road in the upmarket Kololo suburb.
To support their claim, Oluka produced a February 20, 2008 letter from lands minister Omara Atubo, which duly registered them as trustees.
“These people are trying to repossess a school which has never been their property. This school was started in 1965 with parents as the foundation body but with a board of trustees which owned the land and the buildings. It remained a community school until 1974 when the community failed to manage it without Government input,†he says.
But Tailor who also heads another PAK insists that they were the genuine trustees and duly registered with the Ministry of Lands. He instead accused Oluka’s faction of trying to grab the school.
“It is these people who want to grab our property,†Tailor told The New Vision by telephone.
“The school belongs to us and we got the repossession certificate. What our forefathers gave us nobody will take away. The Government got involved in the management following the expulsion of Asians in 1972. The Government grant is to the students and not the owners. We appreciate the Government grant but that does mean they own the property,†he says.
When contacted, lands minister, Omara Atubo, said as far as he knew, PAK of the Oluka faction were the registered trustees until the property is repossessed.
“If the finance ministry has allowed the Indian Association to repossess the school, they will come and we register them as the new trustees,†Atubo said. “As for now, the parents’ association is the recognised trustee of the school. The Indian Association has to wait for the legal process to take place before repossessing it,â€Â Atubo added.
However, Tailor disagrees. He says they repossessed the school way back in 2002, under Repossession Certificate Number 3416, but that they have never taken physical repossession.
He promises that the school, which is home to 1,200 students will not be phased out but that they simply want to come in to re-develop it and protect the school’s land from further encroachment.
“We do not wish to displace the school but only to participate it its management,†Tailor said in his March 9, 2009 letter to education minister, Geraldine Bitamazire.
“We also wish to develop the school and to save it from encroachers. Already part of the school land has been sold off by the current management of City High School,†he added. But Oluka said it was a member of the previous executive that sold part of the school land to energy minister Hilary Onek and that the issue was before court.
The school has, since 2004, been involved in a number of land disputes since its lease expired. In 2004, the school trustees, then headed by city lawyer Dalton Oponya, resolved to sell part of the school land to pay for a sh50m premium demanded by the city authorities for lease extension. The decision was reached after the Ministry of Education turned down a request to bail out the school.
The ministry instead authorised the school to increase fees to clear the deficit. In April 2005, a UPDF soldier only identified as Lt. Kagolo fenced off part of the school land, about an acre, under unclear circumstances, but the fence was later pulled down by the students.
When contacted, both the headmistress, Claire Nduhura and the chairperson Board of Governors, Rev. Can. Job Bukure, referred The New Vision to Bitamazire who confirmed receiving Tailor’s letter. She, however, said she had instituted her own investigations because the issue is ‘complex.’ She said she will meet both parties as soon as her probe is over and that no party should rush to court.
Tailor said going to court would be the last resort. “If we wanted to go to court, we would have done so as soon as we got the repossession certificate.
“But we are negotiating to be part of management. We are here for development. That school belongs to the people and there are very few Asian children there if any.â€
But Oluka dismissed the claims. “If these people claim to be the rightful trustees, then why are they requesting to be allowed to be part of the school management?†he asked.
Oluka explained that PAK membership was clearly spelt out in its constitution and the Asian Association could only come on board as a donor.
The constitution spells out the various categories of members. Parents whose children are in the school automatically become members.
The other categories of members include patrons who pay an annual subscription of sh1m or over, sh500,000 and above, sh250,000 or more and associate members with sh5,000.