By Paul Watala

The UPDF has started a sponsorship scheme for Karamoja pupils who passed Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) and failed to join sec-ondary because of school fees.

The scheme is under the UPDF civil military cooperation programmes in Karamoja.

According to Capt. Henry Obbo, the 3rd Division spokesperson of the force, the sponsorship will only take 30 pupils this year.

“Our humble contribution is to give the children free education up to A’level in our army boarding secondary in Rubongi in Tororo district. Terms and conditions of the school like discipline will apply,” he said.

Obbo said the respective district leaders in Karamoja will help in the screening of the pupils and forward them to the schools for further scrutiny.

“We have advised the district leaders that only Karamoja children who did PLE within the region and are evidently needy will be taken,” he said.

“We want this done very soon so that the children can start school. We shall see if we can increase the numbers next year,” Obbo added.

He said other pupils are being sponsored by the army in Kotido and Moroto districts, adding that most of the teachers were UPDF soldiers.

“We are not only collecting the guns but also transforming the society,” Obbo said.

Obbo added that the army was providing building materials to rehabilitate some of the schools.