By Mulengera Reporters
On behalf of government, Education Minister Dr. JC Muyingo Friday afternoon drove to King David Junior School Ndejje to speak to wailing parents who had pitched camp there; demanding to know the latest on their children.
Muyingo was received by school authorities and in his brief address delivered the government verbal condolence message over the 16 children and 5 teachers who died in the bus crush which occurred in Kapchorwa on their way back from Sipi Falls where they had gone for a study tour. The five staff who died include the director or proprietor of the school, which neigbhors say was developing at a rapid speed.
Muyingo, who had just come from a meeting with security chiefs and MoH representatives, reported to a large crowd of wailing parents that apart from the 21 who died, another 44 children had been admitted at both Kapchorwa General Hospital and Mbale Regional Referral Hospital. He said the 21 died of what he called ‘a very traumatizing death.’ The children who travelled in another bus are all safe and sound-and on their way back to Kampala.
Muyingo said that comprehensive investigations into why such schools study tours have lately been very unsafe had started, which is why the Ndejje school had been closed for two weeks to understand what exactly happened. Muyingo said in case it turns out that more time is required, the reopening could be delayed up to a month or more. In other words, the school whose closure was demanded for by area local leaders and parents, will remain closed for as long as it takes for the investigations to be completed.
Study tours too have been suspended in the whole country, implying that no school will be permitted organize and carry out any such tour. This suspension is also indefinite and Muyingo said there will be need to carry out a countrywide assessment to establish the extent to which schools and organizers of such trips comply with safety protocols. Muyingo said that as of now, there should be no blaming or pointing of fingers so that the parents and the school community are allowed time to mourn and grieve their departed loved ones.
Children of the boarding section at the school were asked to park their belongings and immediately vacate the school to effect the closure. The bodies are to be evacuated from Mbale/Kapchorwa to Kampala. Muyingo didn’t disclose or go into who will be meeting the cost for that.
Online conversations, which began Thursday night as soon as the news of the accident came through, indicated that majority Ugandans were angry as to why such young children could be taken to such a faraway place just to see Sipi falls yet the same is available at Jinja. Some castigated parents for increasingly becoming negligent and not being adequately involved in their children’s learning.
Many questioned whether the necessary due diligence had been done on both the mechanical condition of the bus and the driver himself. Was he with a driver’s license? Was he experienced with carrying pupils to such long distances? Who chose or recruited him? And what were the terms? Was there enjawulo shared between the driver and the school staff who got him on board? Some parents demanded that government takes comprehensive precaution to ensure other potential danger sources, such as absence of lightening arrestors, are also addressed and strictly enforced.
AREA MP SPEAKS OUT: In a related development, Hon Fadhil Twala who serves as the area MP for Tingey County where the accident occured, says the accident was avoidable and would have been avoided if the driver of the fateful bus had listened to local residents’ advice and guidance. That Chepkwit sharp corner where the bus overturned is a well-known black spot which has always claimed lives-accidents have been rampant there at that very sharp corner. Not very long ago, even a UPDF truck failed to break resulting into fatalities.
The 6kms stretch from the Sipi falls to that sharp corner where the tragedy occurred is a steep hill which requires a lot of balancing of the breaks to be able to pass there successfully without the vehicle losing control. It also requires someone who knows the terrain of that area well so that the driver gets to know when and how to balance the breaking system of the vehicle. This is one thing this particular driver failed in.
Fadhil Twala (the Secretary General who is the 2nd most powerful person in PLU after Gen MK) says on their way to the falls, the vehicle broke down and failed thrice prompting area knowledgeable residents to propose that it gets abandoned and a better condition vehicle is called in. This was all ignored by the driver who kept bragging he has experience and knows what he is doing. It was also late and getting dark (past 7pm), which made engaging people experienced with the area terrain at a small fee even more required. All this was ignored by the vehicle driver with the acquiescence of the school staff who were on board.
After the driver losing control of the vehicle, the same hit onto a rock real hard and there was a huge bang. And it’s the effect of that hard knocking of the rock that caused the death of the 21 dead and the severe bruising of the 41 who continue to be hospitalized at Kapchorwa and Mbale hospitals. Kapchorwa General, which is the nearest hospital from the accident scene, is some 30kms away yet this is where the survivors had to be rushed. It was the only option. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
