Key suspect in Uneb exam leakage out on police bond

KAMPALA. The Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) last week said it was aware of the leaked O-Level exams and that police was already investigating the matter with at least 27 people being held and another on the run.
But it has now emerged that the key suspect in the leaked Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) exams was given a police bond, which has left Uneb officials confused.

Police have confirmed that Mr Aaron Hassan Waiswa, a head teacher at Nkuutu Memorial College, whom Uneb had deployed as the area supervisor of Busesa in Iganga District, connived with the scout, who was paid Shs1 million and surrendered the key to the store where the former accessed the exams question papers.
Mr Waiswa later disappeared upon learning that he was a wanted man. Daily Monitor investigations reveal that Mr Waiswa then sought refuge in Kampala and on Sunday reported himself to the city’s central police station where he was given a police bond.

Unaware of the new developments, Uneb officials asked police to arrest him on learning that Mr Waiswa had gone back to his school. But the police were left stunned when Mr Waiswa instead presented to them a police bond he had been given by Kampala Metropolitan Police.
“We wonder how someone is offered a police bond before he is arrested. This is how complex the things are. In all this, we should know that there is money exchanging hands,” an official who declined to be named but is privy to the investigations said.

Mr Waiswa did not answer our repeated calls to his mobile phone.
It is alleged that Mr Ben Bella Odinga, a teacher at Nsangi Secondary School, on Masaka Road in Wakiso District, who had been deployed to oversee the exams in Busesa, also had a hand in the leakage.

On the issue of the controversial police bond, Ms Polly Namaye, the police deputy spokesperson, yesterday referred Daily Monitor to the Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson, Mr Emilian Kayima, since Mr Waiswa had secured a bond in an area under his jurisdiction.
Mr Kayima confirmed that Mr Waiswa together with 10 other suspects were being investigated by Kampala Metropolitan Police over their role in the leaked Uneb exams.
However, Uneb officials maintain that no leakage took place under their jurisdiction. After dispatch from Uneb head offices, exams papers are kept at police stations or sub-county headquarters where they are assured of police security.

Mr Hamis Kaheru, the Uneb spokesperson, said: “I am not privy to the police investigations. I’m waiting for the official report like any other Uneb official. The internal controls within the printer are sufficient and any possible leakage would be external, especially after we have transported the papers to the storage stations.”
Mr Dan Odongo, the Uneb executive secretary, said the prosecutors who are on strike have made it a little more difficult for them to pursue justice. “Our hands are tied because the State attorneys are on strike. We’re dealing with the police for any investigations,” Mr Odongo said.

Last week, Mr Odongo said police investigations had revealed that the scam originated from one of the storage facilities in Iganga at Busesa where the area supervisor connived with the scout, who surrendered the key to the store and accessed the exams papers for Shs1m.

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