Attacked school had ownership wrangles- Janet

Lhubiriha Secondary School that was attacked by suspected rebels who killed 37 students, a guard and three other community members was embroiled in an ownership wrangle, the Minister of Education, Janet Museveni has said.

Addressing journalists at State Lodge, Nakasero in Kampala on June 17, Ms Museveni who is also the First Lady, moved to assure parents that the government would ensure the safety of students, adding that a nearby school with over 700 students had not been attacked.

“There is also another point that came up- that this school has been, there has been groups in Kasese who wanted to take it over but because the school was built by an NGO, there has been that conflict between those groups that wanted to take over the school and the NGO which actually built the school. So, there was that background also. Those are facts that are not yet very clear but that is the information that is coming in, and that we have received so far,” she said.

“There is an impression that perhaps the terrorist group may have been used by the people who were fighting to take over the school to do what they have done, but that information will come out at a later stage because government is going to have to find out and get the actual information,” she added.

Her comments mirror earlier statements by the army spokesperson, Felix Kulayigye,  that security agencies are “leaving room open” with the said ownership contestation as a possible investigation lead.
Security agencies linked the attack to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), one of the notorious rebel groups based in the DRC.
Ms Janet labeled the attack a “terrible tragedy.”

“So on behalf of the Government of Uganda, and the Ministry of Education and Sports and my own behalf, I express our sincere condolences and deepest sympathies to the bereaved families, the students and staff of this school on this terrible tragedy.”

Of the 37 students, 17 were boys while 20 were girls.  She said the girls were hacked to death while attempting to flee for their lives.
“The girls on the other hand opened the door and tried to run out and this evil group got them and killed them with pangas. They did not shoot. They killed them with pangas. The 17 children who were burnt in the dormitory are not easily recognisable. The bodies were taken to the mortuary,” she added.

Security agencies are currently in pursuit of the assailants, who also abducted a yet to be confirmed number of students.
The attack, according to Ms Museveni, coincided with the departure of auditors who had been camped at the school, and had only left the school on June 15.

“This school is a private school. Apparently it was built by an NGO, led by somebody called Peter Hunter, a Canadian. He works both in DRC and Uganda. Recently, apparently, his group sent in auditors to his school to audit the finances that they send to the school. The auditors spent some two days at that school auditing the books of the school. They finished on Thursday and left the school on Thursday and the children were killed on Friday. That is not to say that we relate these auditors being there, but those are also facts we have,” Ms Museveni said.

The Ministry, in wake of the attack dispatched a team led by state minster for higher Education, John Chrysostom Muyingo, the Permanent Secretary, Ms Ketty Lamaro, and the commissioner for private schools to assess the situation.

 Mr Muyingo said government will give each of the family of the deceased students Shs5 million to help in burial arrangements. 

Statement by the Minister of Education and Sports, Ms Janet Museveni on the attack on Lhubiriha Secondary School

Fellow Ugandans, the media fraternity, Good afternoon to you all.
Today, I am compelled to communicate to you a message that is very sad for our country because this morning we were informed that a terrorist group attacked a secondary school in Mpondwe near the border with DRC. The School is a Boarding School – it is called Lhubiriha Secondary School. It is in aparish calleD Nyabuganddo, and sometimes they call this Nyabugando Secondary School in Karandi Sub County, Kasese District.
This terrorist group killed 37 children altogether. The information is still coming in and still scanty but that is the number we have.

 Apparently, they did use guns to kill these children. There are two dormitories. The girls’ dormitory, and the boys. The boys’ dormitory had been locked, so these terrorists couldn’t enter, so they threw in a bomb. They threw in a petrol bomb.  So these children were completely.
The girls on the other hand opened the door and tried to run out and this evil group got them and killed them with pangas. 

They did not shoot. With the girls, they killed them with pangas. The 17 children who were burnt in the dormitory are not easily recognized. The bodies were taken to the mortuary. The 20 girls were killed with pangas.

This school is a private school. Apparently it was built by an NGO, led by somebody called Peter Hunter. This Peter Hunter is a Canadian. He works both in DRC and Uganda. Recently, apparently, his group sent in auditors to his school to audit the finances that they send in to the school. The auditors spent some two days at that school auditing the books of the school, and they finished on Thursday and left the school on Thursday and the children were killed on Friday. That is not to say that we relate these auditors being there, but those are the facts we have.

“There is also another point that came up- that this school has been, there has been groups in Kasese who wanted to take it over but because the school was built by an NGO, there has been that conflict between those groups that wanted to take over the school and the NGO which actually built the school, so there was that background also. Those are facts that are not yet very clear but that is the information that is coming in, and that we have received so far.

I wanted to  go this morning myself to be there to see and make  some on spot assessment  to know exactly what really happened  but I was reminded that we are still  in quarantine here so I couldn’t go. Therefore, I asked my colleague Hon Muyingo who quickly flew to that area, to the School with the Permanent Secretary for the Ministry Education and the Commissioner uncharged of private schools to get to the grassroots and really find out so that we can know exactly what happened.

 The president also helped us with some support for the affected families to help to arrange the funerals and help them to manage in this very difficult time. When Hon. Muyingo comes back we will get more information obviously and we will pass it on to the public. For now however, the government through the security agencies is trying to follow up what actually happened and it is on top of the situation. We believe that justice will prevail.

So on behalf of the Government of Uganda, and the Ministry of Education and Sports and my own behalf, I express our sincere condolences and deepest sympathies to the bereaved families, the students and staff of this school on this terrible tragedy.

And apparently, there is another school in the area. Nyabughando Baptists Secondary School, it is a larger School but that one is safe. Nothing happened to that one and it shouldn’t be confused with this other one.

In this school, the one we are talking about had 63 students only in the school, and now 37 have been killed. This other school, Nyabughando Baptists Secondary School  was a larger school, and by  God’s grace it is safe, it had some 700 students but it is safe , nothing happened so it shouldn’t be mixed up with this other school that had a problem-Lhubiriha.
There is an impression that perhaps the terrorist group may have been used by the people who were fighting to take over the school to do what they have done, but that information will come out at a later stage because the government is going to have to find out and get the actual information. For now the government is in charge, the security agencies are trying to follow up and we will get all the information
 So I really want to appeal to all people of good will and to the country to pray for those families and the community in the area. 

Parents across the country please do not panic, our children are safe and they will remain safe. There are evil and they are trying to harm our children but they will not always manage.

I am confident that the God we serve who sees all things will lead the UPDF force to track down these people and they will pay for what they have done. I have no doubt in my mind that they will be found and they will pay for what they have done. But for now, I appeal to all of us to stay calm and to hold our hands together and pray for this community in Kasese district so that God can empower them to go through this very difficult time. 

And it is a difficult time for all of us as Ugandans but God is not dead and he will lead our defense forces and they will track down these evil people and they will pay for what they have done.