Teachers college administrators arrested for denying students exams

Busia, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT  |  Police in Busia district have arrested two college administrators for blocking their own students, numbering 29, from sitting for final exams.

The suspects have been identified as Affan Lubanga, the director Destiny River Primary Teacher’s collage-PTC which is in Iganga district and Benson Kabusira the collage bursar. They are both residents of Iganga district.

They are accused of denying exams to 29 students from the said school who were supposed to sit for 2020 final exams at Busia primary teachers collage-PTC.

In 2019, the students were registered in Kyambogo University under the center number of Busia primary teachers college located in Masafu sub-county of Busia district. The college is affiliated to the university.

Affan Lubanga, the director Destiny River Primary Teacher’s collage-PTC says that the students were blocked from accessing Busia PTC by the collage director Geoffrey Macho also MP Busia municipality, due to debts in between him and Macho.

Lubanga confirmed that he owes Macho 15 million shillings,  the issue he says Macho would have not considered because he is capable of paying the money in a short time.

In a phone interview, Hon Geoffrey Macho told our reporter that he doesn’t have any student sitting exams at Busia PTC. In 2019 he went to Kyambogo university and asked for an examination centre, not to host students because he had a total of 3 students which is too few as required for a center number.

“I was allowed to take my three students to Kamuli primary teachers collage where they are currently sitting for their final exams,”  Macho said. “I don’t know those students and I want the director to pay me the money I lent him during his campaign for Iganga mayoral seat before we resume business.”

The students says that it is injustice because both the director and bursar on Tuesday used the tricks of driving them from Iganga town to Busia yet as administrator, they knew they have issues with the owner of the examination centre number where they were meant to sit from.

They left Iganga hopeful of doing final exams but instead they were brought to be dumped at Busia nursery teachers collage where they slept for two nights. The students become suspicious when the bursar disappeared and had not told them reasons as to why they are not sitting exams.

Charles Okiror, a student, says that they were shocked on Tuesday evening when the bursar took them to sleep at Busia Nursery Teachers College instead of Busia Primary Teachers Collage where they were meant to sit exams from.

Okiror says the bursar disappeared on Wednesday morning for five hours and came back with examination cards pending stamps, an act that indicates that students were not fully cleared to do exams.

Hadija Hatog and Joyce Nanangwe, who are among other students, say that the bursar kept on dodging them, whenever they could ask him to take the at the examination centre to sit for their exams.

Guloba Bashir, the guild president at Destiny River PTC who is also finalist says that they pay a lot of money at the collage and all students paid registration fee of 265,000 shillings, practicals fees of 500,000 shillings, in addition to 590,000 shillings tuition which they pay per term, and other school requirements and they were fully prepared for the exams.

They were shocked not to sit for their final exams an act that prompted them to go to police to seek for redress and justice.

Moses Johnson Mugwe, the Bukedi south police spokesperson says that the suspects were arrested on Wednesday evening after police registered complaints from 29 students from Destiny River Primary Teacher’s collage-PTC.  The students filed a case against the school administrators for denying them to access Busia teachers college where they were supposed to sit for their final exams.

The suspects are kept in police custody at Busia central police station waiting their files to be fully completed then they would be taken to Iganga police station for further investigation. They will be charged of misuse of Office.

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