P7 pupil goes missing after suspension over smartphone

Frank Nyanzi, a pupil at Guiding Star Primary School in Kawempe Division, Kampala has gone missing days after he was suspended by the school administration on allegations that he was found in possession of a smartphone at the school premises.

According to a statement issued by the Kampala Metropolitan Deputy Police Spokesperson, Mr Luke Owoyesigyire, the 14-year-old went missing on July 7, 2022.

“The child was sent home to collect the balance on school fees but arrived home with a smartphone. When his uncle identified as David Luutu asked him whose phone was it, Nyanzi claimed to have borrowed it from a friend at school,” the statement reads in part.  

Mr Owoyesigyire said that this prompted Mr Luutu to take Nyanzi back to school to identify the owner of the smartphone.

“With the help of the school administration, Mr Luutu asked Nyanzi’s classmates to whom the phone belonged, but all pupils denied it,” he said.

This then prompted the school administration to suspend Nyanzi.

“His uncle urged the administration to inform his father. However, when the child heard that his father was going to be informed, he requested to go for a short call and has never to be seen again,” the statement further reads.

Cases of students being obsessed with phones have been on the rise mostly since the Covid-induced lockdown.

In January this year, an 18-year-old girl committed suicide after her father confiscated her smartphone. The incident happened at Kiringa village, Bweramule Sub County in Ntoroko District.