World Bank derails efforts to fix traditional schools - Gen Katumba

The Minister of Works and Transport, Gen Edward Katumba Wamala, said the World Bank derailed government efforts to put up good infrastructure in traditional schools.

Gen Katumba made the remarks as the chief guest at  the celebrations to mark 112 years of Busoga College Mwiri’s existence recently.

“The government is committed to putting up good infrastructure in not only Mwiri, but all traditional schools. However, the project was affected by the World Bank and we are in negotiations,” Gen Katumba said.

In August, the World Bank suspended any future funding for projects in Uganda, citing human rights violations from the recent enactment of the anti-gay law.

The global financial body said in a statement that further funding was being frozen until Kampala provides adequate policy to protect minorities, including the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and other groups commonly categorised as LGBTQ+.

The decision came after President Museveni, in May, signed into law the Anti-Homosexuality Act, providing penalties as high as a death sentence for “aggravated homosexuality”.

Gen Katumba, however, said the failure by the World Bank to help traditional schools should not be looked at as a ‘lesbian and gay matter’, but as ‘an education matter’.

“If they (World Bank) do not come back or fail, the Ministry of Education and Sports will take up this project,” he said, adding that despite challenges that traditional schools encounter, Busoga College Mwiri is one of the highly-celebrated schools in the country.

“The school has produced prominent Old Boys (OBs), including former president Dr Milton Obote, former prime minister Dr Ruhakana Rugunda, and Justice Frederick Egonda-Ntende,” Gen Katumba highlighted.

The Bishop of Busoga Diocese, Rt Rev Paul Naimanhye, who led prayers on that day, said the school was not doing well sometime back and “everybody was crying”.

“However, we thank God that Mwiri Old Boys Association (MOBA) and friends have mobilised resources to bring back its lost glory,” he said during his sermon.

Some of the former head teachers were recognised for their services, including Daudi Mulongo, Balamu F Kaggwa, Daniel Ngude, and George William Semivule.

Dr Daniel Ruhweza, the MOBA president, said traditional schools are facing infrastructure development challenges as most of their buildings are in a sorry state and cannot compete with the current private school buildings.

“The government is trying; however, it cannot do everything in time. So, we (OBs) have decided to offer support to improve some of the buildings to turn them into a conducive learning environment,” Dr Ruhweza said.

He added that MOBA had partnered with National Forestry Authority (NFA) and Absa Bank Uganda to green the school’s more than 350 acres of land to promote nature and protect the environment.

For Absa Bank Uganda, the project aims to restore the school’s tree cover which has diminished over the years owing to the impact of human activity.

The school is situated on a hill occupying 560 acres, which includes the school premises (on 60 acres) and 500 acres of forest land.

“Unfortunately, the 500 acres that cover the slopes of the hill on which the school sits were once forested but have over the years been degraded. This is due to encroachment, other commercial activities and the extensive presence of termites,” Helen Basuuta-Nangonzi, the marketing and customer experience director Absa Bank Uganda, said.

Basuuta-Nangonzi says the partnership is part of the bank’s actions to support long-term environmental sustainability, including mitigating climate change risk through a focused environmental sustainability programme.

According to data from the Ministry of Water and Environment, deforestation remains the major challenge of forestry management which led to a decline of forest cover from 24 percent in 1990 to 12.4 percent in 2015.

It is estimated that Uganda has an average annual loss of natural forest of  two percent per annum, one of the highest in the world.

However, under the project, MOBA is working together with the local community on conservation for long-term sustainability. The project will be carried out in intervals of 100 acres planted for each of the first three rainy seasons, then the last phase of 200 acres will be planted at once.