By Joshua Walakira
In a three page dossier, teachers of Lubiri SS have made a case against Mr. Godfrey Sentongo who has been head teacher since 2015. The teachers, some of whom have since been expelled for standing up Sentongo’s excesses, raise a number of grievances urging the Ministry of Public Service PS Catherine Musingwire to relieve him of his duties. They say it’s shameful that Lubiri, each of whose more than 4,000 students reports with a ream of paper at the start of term, sometimes has had to beg from Mengo SS for papers when exam period comes. The teachers also claim that whereas LSS has close to 4,000 students, official school records indicate only 3,400. They say this the reason why they want Museveni’s new anti-corruption Tsar Edith Nakalema should become interested in the Lubiri SS corruption. Sentongo is the 14th head teacher at the school Sir Edward Mutesa started in 1956. They say under his tenure, the school has incurred lots of financial loss including cash being eaten under the guise of maintaining vehicle fleet. That vehicle registration number UAS 633P was procured using Lubiri SS funds yet it’s not registered in school names. They say it’s registered in someone else’s names yet Lubiri funds were expended on it. They also refer to pick up UG 1010E on whose minor repairs Shs7m was spent some time back yet the same item had previously been paid for. That even after curiously spending so much, the vehicle remains grounded in a city garage. They also want an inquiry into the identities of 100 students the school annually sponsors on grounds of academic and sports excellence as well as compassionate grounds. They say in the absence of any guiding policy, the head teacher has abusively been running this scheme in his own way without accounting to anyone. Annually each of the 4,000 students pays Shs238,000 as PTA fees which is supposed to be deposited on the PTA account which rarely happens. They urge Musingwire to grill Sentongo over this issue. On becoming HM, Sentongo replaced Hajji Mugaga whose Muslim supporters resisted Sentongo from day one and there is suspicion this could be the background to the shocking petition.
TEACHERS SACCO
Under their SACCO, the teachers are contracted among service providers offering mostly labelling services branding things like sweaters and uniforms which students compulsorily buy on joining the school. The petitioners say Sentongo has maliciously been refusing to pay teachers SACCO for the good previously supplied to the tune of Shs60m. Sentongo denies this saying the teachers are just claiming Shs60m without indicating what was supplied and in which quantities yet just paying can trouble him with the auditors. He says they are service providers who have been inflating their invoices. Teachers say that Sentongo has maliciously been refusing to bring the matter to PTA meetings for the payments to be approved which is evidence he is fighting the SACCO meant to cater for teachers welfare. They claim another school SACCO (LENT) has a debt of Shs15m which Sentongo refused to pay yet they supplied goods. There are also firms which carried out construction works but Sentongo isn’t paying. Lubiri has both day and boarding students staying in its two nearby hostels. The teachers say the entire feeding bill is annually met using funds paid by day scholars and want answers as to what happens to what borders pay. Before it was abolished, Shs42,000 was annually paid as admission fees by new students but teachers wonder why only Shs30,000 was being reflected in the school records. The teachers also demand an inquiry into circumstances how Sentongo got rid of 20 teachers who were very critical of him. He officially says he referred them back to the Ministry of Education for deployment elsewhere because they didn’t have enough work load at Lubiri SS. Teachers insist their colleagues were merely being witch-hunted because Sentongo felt they aren’t loyal enough. Some have opted for voluntary transfer upon being fought by the soon-retiring Sentongo who treats them with suspicion. Some of the very good teachers Lubiri SS has lost since Sentongo’s ascendance include Edith Birabwa, Salim Fatume, Moses Kato Jemba, Allan Kabuye, Jean Katushabe, Andrew Kiggundu, Abubaker Kiguli, David Lukwago, Ivan Matovu, James Muluya, Mzee Edgar Moses, Yudaya Nakubulwa, Faridah Nalwoga, Hamidah Namiiro, Gorette Zandrah Nangonzi, Moses Nsobya, Pamela Nuwagaba, Aggrey Odong, Lameck Semugoma and Dennis Sempiira. The teachers want public service to investigate the extent to which this could have been motivated by religious differences and desire to purge his predecessor’s loyalists. Sentongo is also accused of arbitrarily expelling teachers like Joseph Kigongo, Nabakooza, Peter Musoke, Nankya and Bateganisa. The teachers claim the school is on the verge of being sued after Sentongo arbitrarily terminated a rental agreement the school previously had with one of the hostel owners. They also want Sentongo to answer why he caused the dismantling of the school’s state of art kitchen facility and had the relevant equipment carried away.
LINCOLN HIGH SCH
Sentongo owns this large school located in Kabembe along Mukono-Kayunga road. Teachers want Musingwire to investigate allegations that Lubiri SS resources are often diverted to run this school. Officially over 15 Lubiri SS teachers do part time teaching at this school whose UNEB results were recently withheld by UNEB for alleged exam malpractices. During an emergency Lubiri Old Students Association (LOSA) meeting last Thursday at Nyombi Thembo’s Lungujja home, the old students expressed fears that their mighty institution Lubiri SS might also in future find itself disgraced as UNEB intensifies investigations into alleged exam cheating. The alumni declared support for some of the utterances disgruntled teachers have been making against Mr. Sentongo but Gordon Sematiko, who chaired the meeting, called for calmness insisting that his recent interaction with him has showed him Sentongo wasn’t as bad as teachers make him appear. The teachers also claim that PTA annually contributes Shs60.7m towards their welfare as contribution from money realized from hostel fees but the head teacher only availed Shs4.4m towards teacher welfare for the previous year. They want answers regarding the balance. They also want an inquiry as to why PTA chairman allowed Sentongo to appear for the recent PTA meeting without being compelled to issue out any financial statements detailing accountability for the funds entrusted to him as accounting officer for the school. This is something that angered many parents at the meeting. “As long as this head teacher is still at this station with no immediate intervention, the school is likely to collapse and die a natural death. Kindly coordinate with the relevant offices to get a suitable replacement so as to save the situation,” the teachers state in their dossier adding that despite numerous reports registered to them, Commissioner Secondary Education and Director Basic Education at the MoES haven’t been helpful.
FIGHTING THE ALUMNI
Despite Sematiko’s calls for calmness, the OBs and OGs insisted on using the Thursday meeting to denounce Sentongo. They accused him of running down their school, something Sematiko brought to his attention recently. “He pulled out results for the whole country and indicated Lubiri SS performed very well and that credit goes to him,” Sematiko told the meeting adding that Sentongo told him the problem with LOSA was that its members are out to find fault in him and never applaud him when he makes the school shine. Some of the alumni demanded that in absence of a foundation body, the PTA becomes strengthened to have a strong voice to the extent of rejecting some head teachers like Kibibi SS did some time back by successfully rejecting Savimbi as new HM. They said the MoES can’t impose an HM on a school like Mengo or Kibuli SS because the foundation body is strong enough. Some said since Sentongo is old and on his way out, they can bear with him and assert themselves on who they want at the expiry of his term. Many preferred a former student to take charge saying this will be similar to schools like Mengo which prioritize former students when recruiting. The OBs vowed to use the upcoming PTA AGM to make their case demanding Sentongo ouster. Some said Sentongo can reform and work with LOSA more closely, something those who know him said can never happen.
REPORTING TO POLICE
They referred to his hostility to the extent he wrote letters cancelling the last week LOSA meeting. The OBs wanted to use the school venue but Sentongo, taking them as rivals, denied them permission. He even reported to police calling their meeting an illegal assembly. Sentongo was accused of planting spies on the different alumni whatsapp groups to keep monitoring those not making goods comments about him. In standing up to Sentongo, the disgruntled teachers are spearheaded by Ismail Baguma who recently joined Kibuli SS having concluded Sentongo was too vindictive to work with. Some OBs demanded change on LOSA constitution whose archaic provisions Sentongo uses to justify his hostility to LOSA. Sentongo’s hostility to LOSA is understandable going by the dust Alumni associations have been raising at schools like Kyambogo SS, Kibuli and Old Kampala SS. Saying Sentongo was too indifferent and disrespectful to both OBs and parents, LOSA members vowed to insist on a head teacher who is an OB. They said having seen what a draconian head teacher can do to ruin a school and vowed not to rest until their school has the best head teacher. They reflected on Makerere College and Old Kampala SS whose standards they said declined because of bad head teachers. They argued that the two used to be among best day schools in Kampala but this is no more. Some wondered why one of the teachers who used to coordinate LOSA secretariat at Lubiri SS was targeted and acrimoniously gotten rid of by Sentongo. Some accused Sentongo of not being keen at investing into expansion of the school infrastructure. They referred to constrained library facilities wondering why he doesn’t get inspired by schools like Ndejje SS whose adequate spending on lib facilities saw them emerge the best government school in 2017 UCE exams. Students also condemned as illegal the practice of charging Shs20,000 on former students seeking letters of recommendation from their former school yet Lubiri SS already has more enough sources of funds. For comments, call, text or whatsapp us on 0703164755.
