Head teacher-turned guard gets job offers

A former head teacher, who became a security guard after enduring months without pay during the Covid-19 induced lockdown, has received offers across 17 schools.

His current employer has also promised to promote him to a better paying contract after his probation.

Mr Rogers Gimei got a lifeline when G4S, a private security company, on August 1, 2020, took him on as a security guard with a monthly salary of Shs270, 000, down from Shs450, 000 he was earning as a head teacher at Fairway Childcare Nursery and Primary School, Nama Sub-county in Mukono District.

 “Mr Gimei was contacted by management to show its appreciation and was also recognised for his love for his job, and will be promoted to a better paying contract after his probation period,” Ms Allen Ayebare, the G4S business development and sales manager, told Daily Monitor  yesterday.

While G4S currently pays Shs700 per hour as a standard rate, it doubles the pay overtime and public holidays, making it a security company with one of the best rates on the market.

“If, say, I work overtime and on public holidays, I end up getting more than Shs270, 000, which is better than what most security companies pay. At least I am able to comfortably look after my family in Sironko District,” he said.

After Daily Monitor broke the story on Tuesday, a group of businessmen, who don’t want to be disclosed, approached Mr Gimei through a journalist with a take-it-or-leave-it offer across 17 schools.

“There are 17 schools across the country and that is why they (owners) want to meet him and discuss where he is comfortable to work. They can give him a school to manage and will discuss with him all the details, including payment,” the journalist said.

 He added: “But I am sure they will give him more than what he is getting as a security guard or what he was getting on the other side. They could give him that or even more. Let him come and he gauges; if the offer doesn’t work for him, it is okay.”

Mr Gimei is, however, not sure whether he will take up the offer or any others at the moment.

The future of the holder of a Grade III certificate in Education was plunged into uncertainty after reportedly going seven months without pay due to Covid-19 disruptions at his former workplace.

When the government announced the closure of schools, Mr Gimei conducted his last assembly on March 18 in which he dismissed the pupils.

Two days later, he chaired a staff meeting at which he officially bid farewell to the teachers.

 He would later plant maize, sweet potatoes and cassava on a hired plot of land in Mukono for the next four months while his salary arrears piled up and a bleak future became evident.

His first duty station was guarding a warehouse in Namanve, and then to Kololo, an upscale Kampala suburb, between February and March this year.

He now guards World Vision offices on Kaguta Road in Mayuge District.