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Jinja School closed after student dies in dormitory fire
A dormitory at St Joseph Senior Secondary School in Jinja City, which was gutted by fire on Tuesday night, killing a Senior One student barely two hours after he returned from home PHOTOS/PHILIP WAFULA
What you need to know:
- 14-year-old Emmanuel Muwumba who was from bathing was reportedly caught between running out naked and quickly retrieving something to wear. He chose the latter.
- The Ministry of Education last week attributed the rampant fire outbreaks in schools to lack of occupational permits, especially among private schools, across the country.
A Senior One student of St Joseph Senior Secondary-Nakanyonyi, a private school in Jinja City, died after fire gutted his dormitory, destroying property worth unspecified millions of shillings in its wake.
The badly-charred body of Emmanuel Muwumba, 14, was on Tuesday night retrieved from Kizito House, which he shared with 35 other students, barely two hours after he returned from home where he had gone for treatment.
Mr Emmanuel Bagimba, the headmaster, told this publication that the incident happened when most of the students were engaged in sports.
“Being a public holiday [Women’s Day], most of the students at that time were engaged in sports, but three [students] remained in the dormitory, including the deceased,” he said.
“The deceased returned from home at around 4:30pm and by 6:30pm, he was dead. On that fateful day, I heard my deputy asking him if he had improved and if he had carried enough things from home to eat and he said the mother was bringing them this Sunday [on visitation day].
According to Mr Bagimba, the fire outbreak was reported by a girl who raised an alarm that drew several students and teachers to the scene.
Mr Bagimba said amidst the ensuing commotion, the deceased, who was from bathing, was caught between running out naked and quickly retrieving something to wear. He chose the latter.
“Two of his colleagues managed to escape from the dormitory, but unfortunately, because he feared to run out naked and opted to first get dressed, he didn’t survive,” said Mr Bagimba.
Mr Bagimba, has, however, said that the school has spoken to the deceased’s parents and agreed to fully cover his burial expenses among other costs.
While the Kiira region police spokesman, Mr James Mubi, said detectives are investigating to ascertain the cause of the fire, Mr Bagimba alleges it was an act of arson from competitors he didn’t name.
Headmaster Emmanuel Bagimba
“The competitors are concerned by the school’s meteoric rise in enrolment and performance,” he said.
School temporarily closed
Meanwhile, the school has temporarily been closed up to March 20, and upon reopening, the students will be redistributed among other dormitories, Mr Bagimba said.
According to him, the closure is to allow the students to come to terms with the tragedy since some of them, especially the girls, fainted although they have since recuperated.
Jeremiah Owino, a Senior Two student, who last saw the deceased on that fateful day, described him as “humble, and quiet”.
Mr Israel Mwesigwa, the deceased’s teacher of Christian Religious Education [CRE], described him as “a humble and God-fearing person who loved being a leader”. “When he came, he was in Senior One, but contested as class monitor and prefect,” he said.
By the time of filing this story, plans were underway to bury the deceased at his ancestral home in Budima Village in Iganga district.
What government says
The Ministry of Education last week attributed the rampant fire outbreaks in schools to lack of occupational permits, especially among private schools, across the country.
At least six schools have caught fire since reopening of education institutions on January 10.
The spokesperson of the Ministry of Education, Dr Denis Mugimba, said of the six schools [that caught fire], five are private, with investigations indicating that the majority of the affected schools are privately-owned and lack occupational permits.
Dr Mugimba said only 36 percent of private schools across the country possess the permits.
In 2008, the ministry in conjunction with police issued a circular with a list of guidelines on how schools could address school fires and ensure safety and security of learners. The guidelines included having emergency exits, security committees, firefighting equipment, and sickbays.
However, Dr Mugimba said many private schools have not implemented the guidelines.
