Jennifer Musisi warns investors against grabbing schools’ land

KAMPALA.

City investors planning to grab schools’ land risk being prosecuted by the courts of law to save the future of children’s education, the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) executive director, Jennifer Musisi, has warned.

Her warning comes on the heels of the rampant cases of grabbing schools’ land in the city, something she said doesn’t only cripple the future of the country’s education system but also violates the rights of education of the children, whom she said, would help in transforming the livelihood of Ugandans.

“I am warning all those people who think they will grab schools’ land and just walk away…. I can assure you that we are serious on this issue and all those who fall victim of the same will definitely face the law because when you demolish a school for your personal interests, it means that you shattering the future of the children. As authorities, we shall continue guarding against such acts.” Ms Musisi said.

She was speaking yesterday to Journalists shortly after officiating at the handover of the renovation of Kiswa Primary School in Nakawa division by Sadolin paints and BAPs, a relief charity organization.

Ms Musisi decried the low funding to school children in the city and called upon different organisations to support city programmes especially in the health, education and environmental sector, stressing that it will make the city more attractive.

“There are 79 primary schools in the city and according to the government budget, it allocates only Shs. 10,000 per head of a pupil per year but this money isn’t enough because these children need a lot of requirements for them to excel. I thank Sadolin and BAPs Uganda for giving back to the community and I call upon other organizations to come and support us,” she said.

Asked about the performance of city schools since KCCA took over in 2011, she noted that there have been a lot of reforms and that they will continue improving the standards of not only schools but also other city projects.

Sadolin country executive director, Chris Nugent, said that one of their goals is to support the welfare of the society.

“Am happy to be part of the transformation of the education system and we shall keep on offering support to many more institutions in the city,” he said.

BAPs country coordinator, Harish Bhuptani, noted that many city schools are in poor state but pledged to partner with KCCA to improve the standards of institutions in need.

The renovation, among others involved painting of all the six classroom blocks of the school using quality paint.
The head teachers of the School, Aisha Ntege Namaganda, expressed fear over the high costs of electricity costs and asked government to subsidize costs of public institutions to enable them cope with the economic standards.

“At times we are disconnected from power and this affects our work. We also don’t have a perimeter wall and since we are in the urban setting, there is a lot of noise pollution, which absolutely affects the concentration of our learners,” she said.

Founded in 1959, Kiswa Primary school is a government aided primary school managed by KCCA. It has an enrolment of 2026 pupils and 49 teachers, 38 of whom are paid by government while 11 are temporary. It has seven classroom blocks and 21 classes.

The latest school to face land grabbing is Kasubi Family Primary school in Rubaga Division, which was demolished by unknown people in May this year. Three classrooms blocks were destroyed but KCCA intervened and restored sanity at the school by deploying Police and later provided tents to accommodate the affected pupils.

Others are; Shimoni demonstration Ps, Nabagereka Ps, Nakasero Ps, Kitante Ps, Kololo s.s and Buganda Road Ps, among others.