Sebei Diocese, nursing school dispute over premises deepens

The premises currently occupied by the nursing school. The Sebei Diocese wants the structures to be given to Uganda Christian University. PHOTO BY JOYCE CHEMITAI

Kapchorwa- A year after installation of its second bishop, Sebei Diocese is currently entangled in a silent war with a section of its Christians.

The issue is a planned giveaway of the premises of former St Peters’ Girls Secondary School for the establishment of a nursing school and yet there are plans to open a branch of Uganda Christian University at the same premises.

In the last month, different diocesan committees have had meetings to resolve the matter.

The Sebei Nursing School, which currently holds a 20-year tenancy renewable every five years with Sebei Diocese through a memorandum of understanding, is a private entity co-directed by Ms Carolyn Talylor, Mr Wilberforce Kyeswa and Mr Justus Kiplangat Cherop.

Some Christians accuse the diocesan top management of taking decisions without thorough consultation with all stakeholders, a view that Sebei Diocese Bishop Paul Kiptoo Masaba refutes.

A stakeholders meeting of August 19 resolved that the university be given priority and that the nursing school be postponed for a year.

Subsequently, the diocesan secretary, Mr Julius Aliwa, wrote to the board of directors of the nursing school to postpone their opening to next year.
“The stakeholders’ meeting unanimously resolved that the nursing school be postponed to May next year,” Mr Aliwa wrote in part.

However, challenges would soon emerge when Ms Taylor, a UK basedcommunity nurse and chairperson board of directors of the nursing school, claimed she did not get the notification letter from the diocese, and that she got the communication through her co-directors yet the diocese had her complete UK addresses.

“I didn’t believe this because the letter had not reached me via email or post. I went ahead to mobilise resources and we continued with the renovation,” she said.

This action raised eyebrows among many Christians, especially after the stakeholders meeting that instructed the diocesan management to halt the nursing school. Ms Taylor told Sunday Monitor that stopping them would be a blow.

“We have invested close to Shs50m from friends and charities in the UK and even acquired multiple loans to secure equipment for final inspection by ministry of Education and Uganda Nurses Council,” Ms Taylor said, adding that they plan to repay the loans with students tuition fees.

Mr Barishaki Cheborion, the Sebei Diocesan Chancellor criticises the managers for failing to implement resolutions of the stakeholders meeting.

“Our stakeholders meeting was very clear and that position still stands. Our interest is the university and not just a nursing school,” said Mr Cheborion in a phone interview.

Mr Cheborion adds that he does not mind the legal implications of the stakeholders decision on the diocese, especially that he is not a signatory in the MoU as required by law.

“Those people should go the way they came. My interest like many others is the university,” he says.

Mr Nelson Kaprukuto Chelimo, the chairperson of Sebei Diocese Education Board, distances himself from any development of the nursing school even though it is in his docket.

He blames the diocesan development committee for taking charge without much consultation of all stakeholders.

“I don’t know much about the nursing school but as a matter of principle, I am in support of the university taking off as soon as possible since the Mukono Campus Senate has given us a tick to sort few institutional issues before January,” Mr Chelimo says.

He says many Christians were left guessing after the stakeholders meeting and he accepts that problems arose because of minor breakages in institutional procedures.

“This is what is disturbing Christians but all will be well with the current steps being taken,” he adds.

Mr Chelimo, however, says Christians should bury the hatchet with the diocesan management since the partnership is a mere tenancy that can be cancelled with thorough consultation in the near future.

A recent meeting between Bishop Masaba and the board of directors of the nursing school cleared the nursing school.

A source who attended the meeting said the decision was taken after the nursing school threatened to drag the diocese to court in case the MoU was cancelled.

“It would lead to a legal battle and the diocese could not stand the embarrassment of being dragged to court at this critical moment when focus is on the diocesan cathedral project,” the source said.

Another source adds that the silent conflict that was widely debated in social media among elite Sabiny, has demoralised some members of the Sabiny Kampala Community, who are also development partners of the diocese.

“I pray that this does not affect the cathedral fundraising as well as our support to university initiation. The nursing school issue has been widely criticised here in Kampala and some people have even skipped normal church meetings with no clear reason,” the source said.