Kiyombya head teacher accused of blocking teachers from interviews

Bunyangabu, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Two teachers and a bursar at Kiyombya Seed Secondary School in Kiyombya Sub County, Bunyangabu district, are accusing the school headteacher of blocking them from sitting interviews.

Earlier this month, the Ministry of Education moved to recruit staff for the school after the government took it over from the community.

The Education Service Commission was tasked to interview the staff who were already at the school on March 3. The Commission was to use a list of staff generated by the school headteacher, Juliet Mbabazi, which was in line with the guidelines it had set.     

The other guidelines state that for someone to qualify to do the interviews, he or she is supposed to have been teaching at the same school and was supposed to have an appointment letter from the Board of Governors of the same school. 

However, the two teachers say they were shocked to find themselves missing on the list of the 17 staff who was interviewed even when they were meeting all the requirements.  They are Alice Kabahuma and Henry Akugizibwe.      

Kabahuma, who has been an English teacher at the school, says she was duly appointed by the school board on Feb 20, 2019, and wonders why she was left out. She accuses the headteacher of being corrupt.

Akugizibwe says that he has taught at the school since 2016 voluntarily, but was working with the hope that once the government takes over, he would be given the priority, something that he says did not happen. He adds that the process could have been marred by bribery.       

Rosemary Nyangoma, a bursar at the same school, explains that she has voluntarily served at the school for two years with hopes that she would also be considered for the same job after the government takeover.   She says that since then, she has been getting the facilitation of 100,000 shillings monthly.   

Nyangoma adds that even when it was an internal advert, she was shocked to see new faces sitting in interviews while she was being turned away for missing on the list.

Some parents and local leaders have already come up to express dissatisfaction with how the recruitment process at the school was conducted.   The Piida Parish LC II Chairperson, Willy Nyakairu, says his daughter Kabahuma had informed him about Mbabazi asking her for money before being cleared to sit for interviews.   

Nyakairu says this was wrong because there was no clear explanation for what the money was going to do.    

Bonifansi Mugisa, a resident of Kiyombya Sub County, says that under all circumstances, the teachers who were all at the school would have been prioritized for the interviews before considering outsiders.   

Stephen Kyalimpa, a former Member of the school’s Board of Governors, says there must be more than what meets the eye at the school. Kyalimpa wonders how the complainants missed on the list of those to be interviewed yet it was the headteacher who had called them to turn up for the same interviews.

Mbabazi, however, denies corruption allegations and being behind the blocking of the staff from sitting the interviews. She says they followed the right procedures and only the eligible staff were interviewed.   

The Bunyangabu District Education Officer Sunday Moses Rubalema said he was unaware of the issue, adding that he will intervene after getting the details.

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