This article was first published on the New Vision website on April 26, 2023
By Juliet Waiswa
Pupils of Kawempe Muslim Primary School on Wednesday wrote their papers to end the school term, despite the grim aftermath of the Monday downpour.
The pupils whose books and library textbooks were destroyed by rains, said they hope to find the school back in shape next term.
“We hope KCCA and the government authorities put back our school next term,” a primary six pupil said.
The chairman of the school management committee, Dr Nasser Takuba, said they are still waiting for some well-wishers to bail the schools out by providing construction materials to rebuild.
“The structures of the school are dilapidated and we need to reconstruct them, otherwise, this is going to affect the performance of the learners,” Takuba said.
He noted that at the moment, they have not received any assistance, adding that they are trying to mobile resources from different people to come and save the school.
“Our pupils are writing their examinations for the end of term but we want to ensure that the school term begins when the structures are in good shape,” he added.
On Tuesday, Kampala Lord Mayor, Erias Lukwago, and the director of education services at KCCA, Juliet Namuddu, visited the affected schools — Kawempe Muslim, St Paul Kyebando, Old Kampala and Orthodox Primary School Namugoona.
KCCA received a school budget of sh48bn as compared to the sh100bn that the authority requested from the government. All four schools are government-aided and supervised by KCCA.
The head teacher of Old Kampala Primary School, Sarah Nakazzi, revealed that her pupils had written their end-of-term examinations, adding that they too are waiting for well-wishers.
Old Kampala Primary School was started in 1932, as an Indian community-based school. Kawempe Muslim was started in 1938 and is a government-aided day and boarding school.
Parents speak
“The school needs to be refurbished but as parents, we cannot afford it. We request the government through KCCA to give our school priority as they budget,” Nuru Namukasa a parent at the school said.
Next term we expect KCCA to come up with a solution, some of us are low-income earners, a butcher at Kalerwe, Isma Masadde said.
Traders speak on downpour
Meanwhile, Kampala City Traders Association (KACITA) dispelled rumors that several containers have been affected by the Monday downpour.
KACITA general secretary, Jemba Mulondo, assured traders operating businesses in Kampala that none of the loaded containers was affected as had been circulated on social media.
Jemba said that a meeting was called by KACITA leaders and port terminal managers and other top managers at the Port of Mombasa to assess the impact of what transpired last week.
He, however, said that the videos taken were for empty containers, adding that in case any cargo is found to have been affected, all traders were told not to hesitate to report immediately.
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