School director held over sexual abuse of student

A Senior Two student of Wamala Mixed Secondary School in Mpambire in Mpigi District has alleged that the school director first lured her to a classroom where he sexually abused her and later defiled her at his house.
The 16-year-old girl told Daily Monitor at CID headquarters in Kibuli, Kampala yesterday that Mr Hasadu Wamala called her and another girl from the girls dormitory to his house on November 3 and forced her into sex.

It could not be readily established why the director allegedly invited two girls to his house at the same time.
The victim, who was taken to CID by her parents to file a complaint, said Mr Wamala separated the two girls and sent her colleague to the staffroom while he took her to a classroom at about 10pm.
“When we reached the classroom, he accused me of having a boyfriend,” the girl narrated and said Mr Wamala then threatened her with dismissal from school.
The 16-year-old said she pleaded with Mr Wamala not to send her home because it was already late.

Pleads
She further alleged that when she pleaded with Mr Wamala not to send her home, he suggested another ‘punishment’.
“The director then told me that if he was not going to send me home, he was going to sleep with me,” she said.
The girl said she turned down Mr Wamala’s demands but he insisted despite telling him that she was in her periods.
Mr Wamala allegedly insisted and undressed her to confirm the claim.
“He told me to remove my knickers. When he saw the blood, he told me ‘that is very little blood’. He said the blood would not be a problem,” she said, adding that Mr Wamala promised he would not hurt her during sex.

According to the victim, when she insisted on not having sex with him, Mr Wamala asked her to perform non-penetrative sexual acts on him and asked her to help him masturbate.
She said after the act, Mr Wamala sent her back to the dormitory.
Later that night at about 1am, Mr Wamala allegedly sent someone to call her again from her dormitory and upon reaching his house, he pulled her to his bed. “We are going to do it,” the girl quoted Mr Wamala as allegedly saying.
“He then forced me into sex,” the girl said while crying.
She said after the act, Mr Wamala sent her back to the dormitory where she narrated the ordeal to the school matron.
Four days after the incident, Mr Wamala allegedly sent his son to call the victim from the dormitory again.

When the victim went to his house, he allegedly sent her back to dress up, saying they were going to spend the night out of school in Kampala.
The victim allegedly insisted she was slated to sit examinations in two days, but Mr Wamala allegedly told her they would return early before the examinations began.
The girl said when Mr Wamala insisted and sent her back to the dormitory to dress up for the outing, she instead hid under her bed and did not return.

Goes into hiding
“He sent several students to call me but they could not find me because I was hiding under my bed,” the girl said.
When the students failed to find the victim, Mr Wamala allegedly came to the dormitory and insisted on taking a roll call to establish whether she was present or not.
The victim narrated that when he insisted on taking a roll call, the matron called her out, saying she would be accused of spending the night out of school.

The girl said when she came out, Mr Wamala instead told her to go where other students were standing. She said the following day, she used the watchman’s phone to call her aunt, Ms Hadijah Nakayondo, in Kyotera to pick her from school, saying she had a problem.
Ms Nakayondo, who escorted her to CID yesterday, said she and other relatives went to the school to pick the girl.
“When we got to the school, we talked to the head teacher, Mr Frank Nsubuga, who was surprised to hear about the case,” Ms Nakayondo said. He called the matron, who confirmed the incident.
The relatives later opened a case of defilement at Mpigi Police Station and Mr Wamala was arrested that day.
The accused allegedly pleaded with the girl’s family not to call police and offered them Shs5m to pardon him, but they rejected it.

Out on bail
Early this week, Mr Wamala, who had been detained at Mpigi Police Station, was charged with indecent assault. He was released on a cash bail of Shs200,000 and signed a non-cash bond of Shs1m.
Mr Wamala is assisting police with investigations.
Ms Nakayondo was furious that Mr Wamala had been charged with a lesser offence of indecent assault instead of defilement, which is a bigger offence, attracting up to a death sentence on conviction.
“We expected that he would be charged with defilement because the girl is just 16 years,” Ms Nakayondo said.
Indecent assault attracts up to 14 years in jail upon conviction.
When contacted yesterday, Mr Nsubuga confirmed he knew Mr Wamala but said he was not aware of the alleged defilement incident.
When Mr Wamala was asked to comment on the issue, he said: “I do not know that girl.”

Mr Francis Chemusto, the Katonga regional police commander confirmed the arrest and prosecution of Mr Wamala but referred Daily Monitor to regional police spokesperson for further details.
Mr Joseph Turya, the Katonga region police spokesperson, said Mr Wamala had been charged with indecent assault following the advice of the Resident State Attorney.

After Mr Wamala’s arrest, a gang reportedly beat up the school watchman, Mr Vincent Okot. We could not independently verify the claim by press time. Mr Turya advised Mr Okot to make a formal complaint at Mpigi Police Station and be assisted.
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