28 years later, Mbale NRM chairperson finally sits UCE exams

Mr Muhamood Masaba Mutenyo (2nd right) with his classmates recently. COURTESY PHOTO

What you need to know:

  • The NRM supporter, who has formerly worked as the district NRM secretary for finance and publicity, says the other reason why he went back to school is to learn how to read and write proficiently.

On a cold Monday morning at exactly 5am, the family of Mr Muhamood Masaba Mutenyo, the National Resistance Movement (NRM) chairperson of Mbale District, gathered in the sitting room and prayed for him.
After receiving the blessings, Mr Masaba, 46, a prominent businessman, trekked to his school, Mt Masaba High School in Mbale Town, where he had registered to sit for his Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) examinations. The national examinations started with candidates across the country sitting their first practical paper of Physics.

Born in 1972 in Nabumali Ward, Nabumali Town Council, Mbale District, Mr Masaba dropped out of school in Senior Two in 1991 but since then, he has been making unsuccessful attempts to go back to school.
“I had, on several occasions, tried to go back to school but I could not make it because I had a lot of fear of how the public would react but this time, I said to myself, ‘if I don’t do it now, I will never have time to do it,” he says.
Mr Masaba, who had done everything possible to keep his school affair a secret, says he dropped out of school due to unavoidable circumstances.

He says as a result, he has on several occasions missed out on opportunities due to lack of academic qualifications.
“I loved education and I was an intelligent boy but I was forced to drop out due to political instabilities that led to the disappearance of my father during the Tito Okello regime,” Mr Masaba says.
Mr Masaba’s father, the late Nicholas Simon Mutenyo, was deputy director of Special Forces during president Milton Obote regime. His body has never been found since 1985.

The NRM supporter, who has formerly worked as the district NRM secretary for finance and publicity, says the other reason why he went back to school is to learn how to read and write proficiently.
“I wanted to improve my abilities to speak and write well. I knew how to write but not so well,” he says.
Despite his busy schedule, Mr Masaba says he has high hopes of passing the examinations so that he can join a technical institute to pursue any course of his interest.