UCE 2022: Kamuli school director remanded over abetting impersonation

The director of Mustard Seed Secondary School, Busota in Kamuli District, Mr Moses Kamya, and Director of Studies (DoS), Mr Awali Muledhu, have been remanded to Kamuli government Prison for allegedly abetting impersonation during the Senior Four examinations.

 The duo are said to have procured the services of two Senior Five students to sit Geography and Mathematics exams for two Senior Four students, and were on Friday last week arraigned before Kamuli Grade One magistrate, Ms Aisha Nabukera, and remanded until Monday, November 7.

Ms Anne Kemaali, the Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) senior legal officer, pointed out impersonation as the new trend in exam malpractices, which she attributed to commercialisation of education.

According to her, head teachers are under immense pressure to ensure that their schools perform, thus hiring mercenaries, which is becoming a regular problem.

“It is now more transactional; there is no interest for the students but it is wanting to make a name. What has become regular is impersonation; it is a new trend that is also shocking the [Uneb] board.

“It is something that will not be detected because if it is done at registration, you have a genuine album, you have a genuine attendance sheet, and you have everything cleanly done,” she said, adding that it takes a keen invigilator to notice that there is something going on in the examination room.

Mr Dan Alibundi, the vice chairperson Bulwamaza Zone, Namisambya Ward in Kamuli Municipality, which is adjacent to the school, condemned the act, saying they [parents] sell sugarcane, coffee, chickens and goats to educate their children only to learn of such malpractices.

“For a school to desire a performance it has not worked for is rather unfortunate and has set a bad precedent,” Mr Alibundi said.

He added that this was the third time the school was allegedly hiring mercenaries to sit for candidates, an allegation this publication couldn’t independently verify.

Ms Kemaali noted that they previously had a law but it was lacking in both sanctions and description of the offenses. The previous law, she said, did not provide for misappropriation of registration fees.

But the new law under Section 36 provides for misappropriation of registration fees and the sanction that comes with it is ten years imprisonment, a fine of Shs40m or both.

At least 14 Senior Four students of Mugobi Modern Secondary School in Bugobi Town Council, Namutumba District missed their Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) examinations after their headmaster allegedly failed to remit their registration fees amounting to about Shs2.5 million.

After a successful Police manhunt, the headmaster, Mr Godfrey Musasizi, was on October 24 arrested and released on Police bond while awaiting charges under the new law.

But with regards to impersonation, it is five years imprisonment, a fine of Shs20m or both, according to Ms Kemaali.

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