3 schools close over submerged roads 

At least three schools in Rakai District have temporarily closed due to floods that have cut off access roads.
The affected include Kagongero, Kabuta-Kiruuli and Lwemisege primary schools, in Kifamba Sub-county.
Ms Matilda Namulindwa, the headteacher of Kabuta-Kiruuli Primary School, said neither the teachers nor the pupils can access the school premises due to floods that have submerged bridges and roads connecting to the school.

“The road connecting to our school has become impassable. Teachers had decided to pay Shs3,000 to someone to help them cross the deep water, but when they  reach the school, no single pupil has reported,” Ms Namulindwa said during an interview on Tuesday.
Ms Namulindwa said some pupils had resorted to passing through the bushes but they would arrive late.
“Even if we try to pass through the bushes and gardens, it will even be riskier, especially for pupils. We have, therefore, suspended lessons until the water subsides,” she said.

Mr Jacob Jjunju, a parent at Lwemisege Primary School, said he has stopped three of his children from attending school because he fears they might drown.
“The road has been impassable for the last two weeks and  I cannot risk sending my children to school because they may end up losing their lives,” he said.
Mr John Baptist Kimbowa, the Rakai District Education Officer, said this was not the first time bad roads were hampering education services.

“Most of the roads in our district are impassable and whenever it rains for several days, the pupils and teachers find it difficult to  access the school premises. I have already received reports from some school administrators about their plan to temporarily suspend operations and I am sure more schools are yet to get affected,” he said.

Mr Kimbowa appealed to government to fix the bad roads.
Kabuta-Kiruuli Primary School has an enrolment of more than 450 pupils but about 200 pupils have been reporting since three classes were reopened.  Lwemisege Primary School has more than 500 pupils whereas Kagongero Primary School  has about 400 pupils .
Rakai District has a total of 282 primary schools, of which 122 are public schools.

Mr John Kalasira, a councillor representing Kifamba Sub-county, told Daily Monitor that the submerged roads are supposed to be maintained by sub-county authorities. 
 “What the school administrators have done is certainly good, pupils and teachers should not risk their lives by crossing the deep water. The blame should be put on the sub-county authorities who usually do shoddy work while repairing such roads. What do you expect if there is no proper drainage system?,” he asked. 

Mr Pius Lubega , the chairperson of Kifamba Sub-county, could not answer our repeated calls yesterday
March to June usually constitutes the first major rain season in Uganda, but weather experts recently predicted that the rain would be unseasonal in some parts of the country, especially the central region. In an alert issued on March 22, the Uganda National Meteorological Authority (UNMA) warned that some parts of the country were  likely to experience floods, strong winds and hailstorms.