(This article was first published in the New Vision on August 31, 2022)
By Tom Gwebayanga
Namasagali College in Kamuli district had nearly collapsed when Daniel Bazira was deployed to head it in 2012.
Located on the eastern bank of River Nile in Namasagali sub-county, the school, which has O’ and A’ levels, had 47 students and 17 teachers, who were not on the government payroll.
Its two vans, a truck and a tractor, among other vehicles, were grounded. The school land was overgrown with weeds, which nearly engulfed Jinja House, Entebbe House and the Great Africa Hall. Thieves had vandalised some of its structures. In the swimming pool, the water had turned greenish from an algae bloom.
The former giant, which has produced some of the country’s prominent individuals such as the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for East African Affairs, Rebecca Kadaga, former and current Vision Group bosses; Robert Kabushenga and Don Wanyama, former ministers Aggrey Bagiire and Moses Kizige, had lost its reputation as the home of career development and academic excellence.
The college, which was set up in 1966 by the then Busoga local government, in partnership with Busoga kingdom, had been struggling fi nancially since 1996, when its pioneer principal, Demian Reaves Grime, a British Catholic missionary, who led it for three decades, retired.
Reviving Namasagali
Bazira launched his revival programme, which had close to 2,500 students, mainly boarders, and 95 teachers in the 1980s and 1990s, by re-establishing the school management committee and the Parents-Teachers Association in 2012.
He says he met various personalities, including leaders in the villages surrounding the school and asked them to send their children back to Namasagali.
“Many said I could not get the school back on its feet,” Bazira says.
In 2012, he says he converted the over 200 encroachers, who were cultivating more than half of the school’s 495 acres, into tenants.
He charged sh700,000 for an acre per season. “Those who could not pay provided bags of maize grain, which ensured we had meals for the students,” he says.
“The money from the land helped me pay teachers’ salaries and also buy essential commodities for running the school,” With this money, he also paid off the sh30m power bill.
But he also risked his life. He says local leaders, who had distributed the school’s land to encroachers, did not only open a school nearby to sabotage his efforts, but also plotted to harm him.
“I ensured that I had increased security and restricted access to the school. The encroachers and politicians joined hands to fight me,” Bazira adds.
“I became careful and developed tactics to evade the enemies,”
Revamping The Infrastructure
Once he had secured the school and its land, Bazira says he lobbied the Government and the alumni for funds to revamp the infrastructure. In 2014, he received sh200 to build two blocks, one for administration and a four-classroom one.
The new structures, coupled with his continuous mobilisation of the communities to educate their children, Bazira says the school population grew to 700 a few years later. In order to improve hygiene and sanitation, he lobbied Iowa University in the US for fi nancial support to drill a borehole for the girls.
Bazira says the Namasagali Old Students Association funded the construction of a borehole for the boys. The association, which comprises 1,800 people, recently developed a sh24b masterplan to contribute towards revamping of the school’s infrastructure.
In 2018, he built a computer lab to facilitate the teaching of ICT. It is stocked with 20 desktop computers and 10 laptops and printers. The school has also acquired computers and braillers to facilitate the teaching of learners with hearing and visual impairments.
Academic Revival
As the enrolment increased, Bazira turned his focus on restoring the school’s academic excellence. In 2014, its two O’level top candidates passed in Division Three, two in Division One in 2015 and 13 in Division One in 2016.
In the same year, eight A’level candidates passed well and received government university scholarships.
Bazira says he facilitated the distribution of learning materials provided by the Government during the COVID-19 lockdown. When schools reopened, Bazira says he received masks from Kadaga and set up handwashing facilities to curb the spread of COVID-19. The school now has 1,245 students.
Food Production
Bazira, who says he will continue to motivate the teachers and improve the learning environment for the school to perform better, dedicated 60 acres of the school land for growing food for the students.
The school cultivates maize, sweet potatoes, beans and eggplants on this land. Bazira explains that he encourages all students to participate in the cultivation of the land in order to acquire farming skills.
“Close to 70 of the students who work on the farm are those whose parents cannot raise fees. They provide labour as a form of school fees payment,” Bazira adds.
Working with students and teachers, he says he has also planted 11,000 eucalyptus trees to contribute to environmental protection and revenue generation. “We used a tractor to plough the land, while the students dug the holes and planted the trees,” Bazira says.
He requested for a maize mill and a huller, which were delivered to the school under the Operation Wealth Creation Programme in 2017. The school now produces its own maize flour for consumption by the students and staff, part of which is also sold.
“We now have 37 local and hybrid cows. They were seven in 2012. Besides producing the milk, which we sell, these animals are also important learning resources for the students,” Bazira says.
Co-Curricular Activities
From 2017 to 2020, the school won the music, dance and drama competitions for the eastern region each year. In 2017, Namasagali was among the seven schools which represented Uganda at the East African Music Festival in Nairobi.
“I have facilitated the learners to participate in all co-curricular activities. We have contested and won trophies for doing well in tennis, athletics, soccer and hockey at the regional and district levels,” Bazira says.
Others Speak Out
Rebecca Kadaga, First Deputy Prime Minister I worked with Bazira to lobby the Japanese embassy for the construction of three dormitories to accommodate 500 girls. Christine Kaguna, female councillor, Namasagali sub-county Bazira has the school at heart, otherwise he would have withdrawn.
Golden Tips
- Win the trust
- Be a disciplinarian
- Have administrative abilities
- Be professional
- Keep time
- Teamwork
- Be transparent
- Be resilient
Fact file
- 1981: Sat PLE at Kidiki Mixed Primary School in Kamuli
- 1985: Did UCE at Namasagali College
- 1988: Sat UACE at Namasagali College
- 1990: Diploma in education, Kyambogo University
- 1996: Bachelor’s degree in education, Ndejje University
- 2005: Master’s in education, Islamic University in Uganda
- 2020: Masters of Sciences, UMI Kampala
- 2001-2007: Headteacher Kalasa College, Luweero
- 2008-2011: Headteacher St John’s SS Buwaaya, Mayuge
- 2012 to date: Headteacher Namasagali College
