Karangura Residents Petition Education Ministry over Reallocation of Funds for Seed School

The Ministry of Education and Sports has intervened after Kabarole district council reallocated funds meant to complete St Joseph’s Karangura Secondary School. 

Last week, 38 residents of Karangura Sub County petitioned the Kabarole district Chief Administrative Officer, Phiona Sanyu, protesting the decision by Kabarole district council to reallocate money meant to complete a seed school in their Sub County.  

  

According to the petition, the residents said that in 2012 President Yoweri Museveni pledged to upgrade St Joseph’s Karangura Secondary School to a seed school since it was community-owned and in a poor state.    

They added that in 2015, Museveni fulfilled part of his pledge when he financed the construction of 6 classrooms at the school. The Headteacher, Joseph Rwakibeede, said the classrooms only covered 20 percent of their needs.   

However, he added that they remained without science laboratories, an administration block, a library and a computer laboratory among many other requirements.  

The residents also noted that they kept sending reminders to the president through their area Members of Parliament- MPs until the National Economy of parliament recommended that they get an additional 200 million shillings to cater for what was lacking.    

This, they said, is supported by the provisions of the National Budget Framework Paper for the financial year 2020/2021 on education investment plans, which approved the construction of 115 secondary schools in different Sub counties including Karangura. 

   

However, to their dismay, the residents note that the Kabarole LCV Chairperson, Richard Rwabuhinga, said that they had resolved to use the 200 million shillings from central government to construct a seed school in Kicwamba Sub County and not in Karangura. 

Rwabuhinga says that St Joseph’s Karangura Secondary School was in a much better state and there was no need to allocate more funds.

But the residents through the area Member of Parliament Margaret Muhanga wrote to the Minister of Education and First Lady, Janet Museveni, seeking a redress. 

Sam Kuloba, the Commissioner in charge of Government Secondary Education, met with the residents and the school headteacher Rwakibeede and promised to address the matter.

According to William Kayondo, one of the residents who attended the meeting, Kuloba asked Rwakibeede to write all the challenges facing the the school.

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