Day

BY WILBER MUHWEZI KASIBANTE

IN BUSHENYI

The former minister of general duties in the prime minister’s office Mary Busingye Karooro Okurut yesterday gave out two new boxer motorcycles to two distinguished people from greater Bushenyi for exemplary service to the people Bushenyi and Uganda.

The people who received the motorcycle gifts are Prof. Mulema a PWD from kakindo town council sheema district and Sulait Tumwebaze a prominent usher who does it at functions for free.

Prof. Mulema a musician, a pwd with affected legs told the www.mknewlink.com editor and Hon. Karooro that she had given him legs which God never gave him by offering him a brand new boxer motorcycle.

The two motorcycles are valued at 10 million. Sulait Tumwebaze chief volunteer usher goes all over greater Bushenyi, greater Mbarara, greater Kigezi and Rwenzori regions offering free ushering services. Sulait hails from kabale parish kakanju sub county Bushenyi District.

Hon. Karooro hailed sulait for being environmentally positive whereby after ushering he collects all the waste plastics such that the environment remains clean.

Hon.karooro noted that she decided to reward the two because of the work they are doing in greater Bushenyi. She encourages others to copy the example.

Sulait and Prof.mulema appreciated hon.karooro for remembering them and awarding them with expensive motorcycles which will help them to ease their good work.

By Innocent Atuganyira

MASINDI:

Government has Thursday commissioned the 2.1billion shillings Budongo Seed Secondary School in Nyantonzi sub county Bujenje County in Masindi district.
The construction kicked off in 2019 by CMD Investments limited which was contracted by the government under Uganda intergovernmental fiscal transfer program-UgIFT.
Hon. Kenneth Kiiza Nyendwoha the Bujenje County member of parliament who also doubled as the chief guest said that as government their role from the beginning is to provide quality education.
”Right from the planning stage, our priority as government is to develop human capital and responsibility to provide quality education.”
The politician also asserted that the ICT and Science laboratory will be stocked with equipment since the district has already secured over 100 million shillings from the ministry of education.
He challenged the teachers and parents to make good use of the school to improve the education standards in the area since the school has most of the equipment required for excelling.
Emmy Ngabirano the Resident District Commissioner Masindi challenged the students to make good use of the school and protect it.
He also challenged the parents and guardians to send their children to the school since they have all the equipment and qualified staff who will deliver their best.
Cosmas Byaruhanga the Masindi LCV district chairperson said that the district could at least be accorded two secondary schools per year mostly in the sub counties and divisions which don’t have.
Some of the sub counties and divisions which don’t have secondary schools in Masindi are; Karujubu division, Labogo sub county, Kijujubwa sub county, Kigulya division and others.
However, Byaruhanga asserts that they are following up with the area members of parliament to ensure secondary schools are established in the above sub counties and divisions.
Phiona Sanyu the Chief Administrative Officer Masindi said that according to the comprehensive mapping exercise done in 2015 revealed that 385 sub counties in Uganda don’t have secondary schools and UgIFT is only operating in 259 sub counties.
On this note, Sanyu challenged the district chairperson Cosmas Byaruhanga to grab the opportunities and ensure Masindi is well covered in the 259 districts.
Allan Tusiime the headteacher Budongo seed secondary school commended the government for establishing permanent structures at the school noting that they will do their best to improve the education standards.
The headteacher noted that the challenge of weather affecting them has been solved since they were operating in temporary structures. He therefore asked parents and guardians to send their children to the school.
Budongo seed secondary school has enrolment of 374 students and 27 staff.

By Innocent Atuganyira
KIRYANDONGO: Leaders in Kiryandongo district have rejected the handover of Kitwara Seed school by CMD Investments limited a company which was contracted to construct the school at a cost of 2.48 billion shillings under Uganda intergovernmental fiscal transfer program-UgIFT.
The leaders rejected the new buildings on grounds of shoddy works which were observed on Wednesday during the school inspection ahead of the planned handover to the district by the contractor in preparation for the official commissioning by the ministry of education and sports.
Edith Aliguma Adyeri the LCV chairperson Kiryandongo expressed her disappointment in the contractor who did not pay keen attention to the issues brought to her attention for rectification during the project monitoring and site meetings held at Kitwara seed school since the launch of the construction in November 2019.
Aliguma added that the district authorities as stakeholders in the construction of Kitwara seed school played their role by monitoring the projects and holding site meetings as a way of ensuring the delivery of good quality works as per the bills of quantities.
Dan Muganga the Kiryandongo Resident District Commissioner noted that the contractor had beautified the wall surfaces of the buildings to cover up the shoddy works on the floors and the ceilings.
He also called upon the supervising Engineer to ensure quality works before the buildings were received by the district leaders.
Muganga urged the supervising Engineer to be regular at Kitwara seed school during the period in which the contractor will be rectifying defects so as to offer the necessary technical guidance.
Kitwara village where the seed school is located is not connected to the national electrical grid and this will affect the utilization of the computers procured for ICT lessons by the students.
Muganga called upon the government of Uganda through Rural Electrification Agency to extend power to Kitwara so as the computers procured serve the purpose.
According to Samuel Muhumuza the supervising Engineer, the contractor had not heeded to the recommendations made during the previous site meetings. However, because of the demand for classrooms, the stakeholders during the previous site meeting agreed that the learners use the facilities when schools reopen.
Before the district secured the 2.48 billion shillings for the construction of Kitwara Seed, the school had makeshift structures of papyrus mats with a dilapidated three-stances pit latrine which served 133 students and their teachers.
The school also lacked accommodation facilities for teachers and this greatly affected the academic performance of the school.
Currently the school is struggling with low enrolment because of a lack of boarding facilities to attract learners who are far away from the school and if not addressed, the school is likely to become a white elephant.
Ruth Musinguzi the acting head teacher Kitwara seed school noted that after the construction of classroom blocks and other facilities, the enrolment increased from 133 before the lockdown to 197 students for term one 2022.
Ruth attributes the increment in number of students to new structures constructed at Kitwara seed school as well as coding by the ministry of education and sports.
However, as the district leaders rejected the facilities, the students who at once studied under the makeshift classrooms were excited by the new developments at their school as they explained the challenges they faced before.
“Our books were being destroyed by rain while we were still under the papyrus mat class rooms, we even didn’t have black boards and this made our studies very difficult. We are grateful to the government of Uganda for thinking about our school.” Said Kiwanuka Joshua, a senior four student at Kitwara seed school.
The students are optimistic that with the new infrastructure at the school, they will be in position to compete favorably and perform well during their final UNEB exams.
The students have called upon the government to post more teachers at Kitwara seed school so as to solve the challenge of colliding lessons on the time tables as one teacher handles more than one subject from senior one to senior four.
Kitwara seed school currently has 13 staff against the total ceiling of 31 as per the government standard.

By Aggrey Twesigye

As local coffe processors continue to debate the controversial coffee agreement that has caused a public uproar, the Parish Priest of Kitanga Catholic Parish in Kabale District  Rev.Fr.Gaetano Batanyenda has called on  Parliament to conduct a probe into the recent Signed Coffee agreement between the Government of Uganda and Uganda Vinci Coffee Company.