Police in Luweero District on Wednesday arrested the director of Makerere International High School in Wobulenzi Town Council after failing to register nine students for the ongoing Uganda Certificate of Education examinations.
The arrest came after the suspect failed to explain to nine affected candidates why they had not been transported to Mukono District where the school had allegedly registered them to sit their examinations.
Luweero District Police Commander Byaruhanga Muhorozi on Wednesday said the suspect will be interrogated before preferring charges of fraud against him.
“This is very strange because the exams began on Monday and we did not receive a complaint. The information we have is that he had promised to transport the students to Mukono to sit for their respective UCE papers. Each of the students paid Shs160,000 for the UCE exam but were surprised by the behavior of the school director who doubles as the school headteacher. He couldn’t explain why they were not registered,” Mr Byaruhanga said.
The incident comes a day after police in Kyotera District arrested a school head teacher who allegedly misappropriated money for candidates. The head teacher of St. Raphael Secondary School –Kabira, Kyotera District, reportedly misused Shs7m which was meant to buy chemical reagents used during practical examinations.
Mr Musa Kayongo, the Kyotera District police commander, said police were forced to arrest the school head teacher after failing to explain why he did not buy the reagents in time candidates paid for the items. In his statement at police, the suspect claimed that he lent out part of the funds to some members of the school board whom he could not name but they delayed to refund the money.
Mr. Kayongo said the suspect is likely to face charges of fraud when police investigations into the matter are complete.
A total of 336,740 candidates registered for the examinations from 3,658 centers at 470 storage stations across the country. This is an increase from last year which saw 326,212 students register. Female candidates make up 49.5 percent, nearly the same number of males. 45.2 percent of the candidates are beneficiaries of Government Universal Education program.
