Tororo College closed over students' strike

By Faustine Odeke

TORORO - St. Peter's College Tororo has been indefinitely closed following unrest by students protesting a planned tuition fees increment by the school administration.

The chairman of the district security committee Damulira Kyeyune Wednesday morning gave students only two hours from 10.00am to 12.00pm local time (EAT) to pack their property and leave the school premises as security deployed heavily.

The committee took that line of decision to save both lives and property, and also school installations that angry students wanted to burn down.

‘’It has taken generations for this institution to be built and we cannot just watch it being vandalized in a minute,” Damulira told students.

“Since you have decided to declare your own public holiday by not going to class, it’s therefore appropriate to give you a break.”

Chairman of the district security committee Damulira Kyeyune addresses the students on Wednesday. PHOTO/Faustine Odeke

Upon the order to vacate the school grounds, students from distant homes were told to report to Tororo Central Police Station where plans had been made to link them to their parents and guardians.

Only Senior Four and Senior Six students will report back to school on August 12 and 13 to do their Mock exams.

The rest of the students are due to report back starting September 2 until September 6 together with their parents for screening, the committee decided.

The school headteacher, Joseph Francis Olokojo said the genesis of the unrest was Florence Musibika, an executive member of the Parents Teachers Association [PTA] who has a child studying at the school.

He explained that after the PTA executive meeting on July 10 during which it was agreed that the tuition fees be increased from sh465,000 to sh530,000 starting next year, Musibika informed her child about the development.

Her child then set out and mobilized fellow students – mostly Senior Twos and Threes – to protest the decision.

The students descended on school property, breaking several window panes. And they had planned more damage.

Their target was to burn down the main hall, main administration block, generator and other buildings but the school authority was quicker and informed the police who immediately deployed in the school.

The school head said despite the fees increment, the school has also been experiencing intermittent supply of water, limited cash flow – since most of the parents who are civil servants have not paid school fees – and tax audit by Uganda Revenue Authority for years the years of 2009 and 2011.

The district education officer, Yona Gamusi Doya said during an extra-ordinary meeting on Monday that it a decision was reached to suspend 35 student ringleaders – 31 in Senior Three and four in Senior Two – thinking the situation would normalize.

But it only worsened.

So he decided to contact the commissioner secondary education who advised him to have the school closed.

Doya made it clear that the school will only be opened after thorough investigations are done to find out the root cause of the unrest.

The district police commander Robert Katuramu and district internal security officer Simon Mutachuka remained at the school to ensure all the students left the school safely.