Teargas rocks Kibanda SS as four teachers arrested over alleged extortion
“Under what criteria are you charging these fees? This is a government school where parents are not supposed to pay fees,” he said.
Kiryandongo: Police in Kiryandongo District fired teargas to disperse students at Kibanda Secondary School as they arrested four teachers accused of extorting money from parents and inciting violence.
The suspects have been identified as Jimmy Akena Loul, Sarah Tuhaise,52, Gofrey Kwemara, 46, and Friday Paul,38. They were arrested on Tuesday at the school and are currently detained at Kiryandongo Police Station.
The arrests followed complaints from parents who accused the teachers of forcing them to sign agreements compelling them to pay money or risk having their children sent home. Some parents said they signed the documents without fully understanding their contents due to language barriers.
Earlier, the district security committee, led by Assistant Resident District Commissioner Samuel Mbabazi, stormed the school and held a meeting with the administration over the allegations.
During the meeting, the school administration was asked to explain why learners were being stopped from sitting assessment examinations despite the school being government-aided.
Ronald Byenjeru, the Kiryandongo District Internal Security Officer, questioned the criteria used to charge parents.
“Under what criteria are you charging these fees? This is a government school where parents are not supposed to pay fees,” he said.
In response, Deputy Director of Studies Gofrey Kwemara said the charges had been agreed upon during a PTA meeting to support school operations.
“During our PTA meeting, we agreed on these contributions to help run the school. We have teachers who are not on the government payroll and are paid by the PTA. The government teachers we have are not enough,” he explained.
Kwemara added that the funds collected from parents help pay teachers and provide scholastic materials due to inadequate government funding.
However, his explanation did not satisfy the security team, which directed the implicated staff to report to police and record statements.
Authorities allege that shortly after the security team left the school premises, some teachers incited students to stage a protest against the arrests, prompting police to fire teargas to restore calm.
William Wadriko, a parent who has two children at the school, said parents are being charged between Shs150,000 and Shs200,000 as PTA contributions, excluding lunch fees, without clear accountability.
He also alleged that school administrators are pressuring parents to use funds from the Parish Development Model to meet these payments.
Robert Anyenjo, another parent claimed that the head teacher forced parents to sign fee payment agreements last Thursday, which he believes amounts to extortion. He reported the matter to the RDC’s office.
“Paying school fees is not the problem, but the way it is being enforced raises concerns,” he said.
Teddy Abalo, another parent, said their main concern is the lack of accountability for the money collected.
Assistant RDC Samuel Mbabazi said authorities acted after receiving numerous complaints from parents. He added that some of the arrested teachers attempted to mobilize students to block their arrest.
Mbabazi emphasized that government-aided schools are not allowed to charge illegal fees or send learners home over non-payment. “They are not supposed to charge illegal fees or send learners home over non-payment,” he said.
Kiryandongo District Education Officer, Rev. Edward Kirya, confirmed the arrests and condemned the alleged actions, noting that extortion is a criminal offence. “Anyone found extorting parents will face the law,” he said.
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