{UAH} Nabagereka School: ATTENTION WBK AND DR KAYONDO

WBK and Dr Kayondo,

Remember we had a heated debate about this school and then it all
went so quiet when it appeared that Mengo and perhaps Kabaka Mutebi
may be involved in the grand larceny. Well here is an article that
throws some light into how a school was thrown to the wolves, with
nobody prepared to protect it: the Land Commission which should never
have granted a lease knowing there were sitting tenants on it; the
Ministry of Education who had invested in the school and failed to
defend it nor make a retrospective application for a lease; the Mengo
establishment who granted a lease to a land grabber without checking
his bona fides and the claims of the sitting tenants.

All round, this school was betrayed because so many people had their
fingers in the pie. The school was particularly vulnerable, being
located in one of the poorest areas of Kampala, and serving children
from very poor backgrounds.

For those of you who are subjects of the Kabaka, I think you have got
to begin putting his actions under intense scrutiny. I have always
argued that if push came to shove, the Kabaka will always side with
the rich and powerful in society. It is a mistake for the Bataka and
the rural and urban landless to think that the Kabaka is a custodian
of their land rights. The Kabaka will always side with landlords and
vested interests; he will never commit class suicide.

If I was in Uganda, this would be one of the first pro bono cases I
would have taken. The injustice of it all just shoots a powerful
electric current through my heart. Now the whole matter is left with
Kadaga and her toothless parliamentary committees.

George Okello




Nabagereka Primary School Demolition Must not Pass without Someone
being reprimanded in Court Featured
26 Mar 2015 Amb Kintu Nyago
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Nabagereka Primary School before and after demolition (inset) The Investigator

I would begin by thanking The Investigator for your steadfast support
for social justice. It is a commendable effort, more so when it
concerns the promotion of the rights of the most vulnerable, in
society. Thank you so much.

The Speaker of Parliament, Honourable Rebecca Kadaga's constituting of
a Parliamentary probe committee into the demolition of the historic 85
year old Nabagereka UPE School, is the step in the right direction… at
least in the struggle against impunity.

Having been established in 1930, by Nabagereka Drusilla Namaganda, it
was one of the oldest schools in East Africa, and indeed most
prestigious before the 1966 Crisis. Then, it was based in the Lubiri.
When it was demolished, by Boost Investments, earlier this year, it
had a pupil enrolment of 1,500.

To starters, Nabagereka Primary School is (please note my deliberate
use of present tense), one of the oldest schools in East Africa having
been established in 1930, by then Nabagereka Drusilla Namaganda,
church wife to Sir Daudi Chwa, Kabaka of Buganda. She was also the
mother of Sir Edward Muteesa II, who is the father of Kabaka Mutebi.
This was set up in the Lubiri.

It was established around the time Kabaka Chwa erected Chwa Memorial
School in Namungoona. By 1966, Nabagereka School was one of the most
prestigious educational institutions in Uganda, and one with a handful
of Junior One (J I) and (J II.) After the 1966 Crisis it was removed
from Lubiri, which was turned into a military facility.

In 1973 the Amin Government, led by its Minister of Education, Mr. Abu
Mayanja, relocated it in Mengo Kisenyi. Government secured about seven
acres from the Uganda Land Commission for this purpose.

Crucial to note is that the school administration, did not process a
lease for this school, a situation that was not uncommon, given that
no one ever thought that it was ever to be demolished. Government used
borrowed money from the IDA III project to construct this school.

In 2006, the disgraced Grade One Magistrate, Gaster Mugoya Kyawa, who
was interdicted for corruption, but had served at the Mwanga II Court,
applied for two leases from the Uganda Land Commission.

The first lease application was for his employer court of Mwanga II,
whose lease had expired, and the other was of the neighbouring
property which is Nabagereka Primary School which also had no lease!
And the Uganda Land Commission, chaired by Mr. Joash Mayanja Nkangi,
former Katikiro of Buganda and eminent lawyer, granted both leases.

In 2008, Mwanga II Court was demolished, amidst confusion. But they
failed to evict the school. In the process, its lease was sold to
BOOST INVESTMENT, owned by a one Bosco Muwonge, who also failed to
evict this school. It's at about this time that Government returned
the Official Mailo estates to Mengo. Who encouraged BOOST INVESTMENTS
to evict the school?

In 2013 the GOU invested UGX half a billion (Shs0.5bn) in this school,
for the construction of teachers houses. The Solicitor General also
gave an interpretation that hindered BOOST INVESTMENT from evicting
this school. Nevertheless, the school was demolished without a known
COURT ORDER!

This was the only Universal Primary Education (UPE) School in the
impoverished and over-populated Mengo Kisenyi. It was a Grade One UPE
School which accommodated 1,500 pupils. I wish to call upon the
Speaker of Parliament to please verify and apply this information in
their work in the parliamentary probe team.

But I won't rest my case without a proposed way forward thus; Another
UPE School should be built in the area. This school has to be within
Mengo Kisenyi to enable the six-thirteen year old pupils to easily
walk to and from school for education. But most importantly, we should
avoid impunity; BOOST INVESTMENTS has to be sued in the courts of law.

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