Teachers in hiding as money lenders hunt them for 4 months

Nebbi, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The education department of Nebbi Municipality is still trying to trace the whereabouts of three of their classroom teachers who abandoned their duty stations and disappeared for fear of being arrested by money lenders.

According to Nebbi Municipality education officials, frequent visiting by moneylenders to the schools searching for defaulting teachers, scared off teachers and made them to abandon their duty stations due to accumulated loans.

The Nebbi Municipality Education Officer Peter Openjtho has confirmed the disappearance of three teachers from their duty stations, saying that teachers left their work stations without any formal written letters to their head teachers.

He adds that, the matter about the disappearing teachers has been reported to his office by their respective Head teachers and investigation has been launched by the department to establish the whereabouts of the three teachers.

“We have  so far three  teachers who have left their duty stations without formal letters , two teachers from  Nyacara Primary School  and one female teacher from  Afere Primary school”, Openjtho  said.    he noted that the issue of the disappearing teachers from their duty stations will be settled by the education sanction committee who will deliver verdicts  on whether the teachers who disappeared from their schools be retained on their payroll or not.

However, Nebbi Resident District Commissioner (RDC) Robert Abak, says many more  teachers have become indebted and are wanted in the communities by Microfinance institutions and local money lenders. Since many of the teacher are victims of multiple loans, they get less than shs 50,000 from their monthly salaries and this have demoralized the teachers to teach normally.

“Some teachers have crossed to other professions not because they are earning less salary but because they are overwhelmed by debts due to multiple loan borrowings hence they become uncomfortable at their work place,” says the RDC.

One of the head teachers whose teacher has gone missing Joyce Amaniyo of Afere Primary School in Nebbi Municipality, says her female teacher Ms Doreen Oroma disappeared from school in July after gathering information that, she was being stalked by money lenders and she had no options but to leave.

“In my career, I had never witnessed any teacher leaving their work place without any  formal  written notifications but, Ms Doreen left her duty station in July and up to now she is nowhere to be seen,” Amaniyo said. “So the matter has been reported to the education department at Nebbi Municipality.”

Amanityo delivered the message about her missing teacher during 50 years of the golden jubilee of her school Afere Primary school, a first such case in the school’s half a century of existence.

The Area Member of Parliament for Nebbi Municipality Suleiman Hashim has advised teachers to live within their means and desist from multiple borrowings, but instead  they should practice  farming to supplement on their salaries.

“The missing teachers  from schools must be followed and brought back for counseling because people are undergoing difficulties which need help using very different approaches, so they can attain sustainable livelihoods,” Hashim said.

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