Mystery over city school demolition

Residents of Naguru, a suburb in the capital city, are scared after unknown people demolished a city school at the weekend.

The Nakawa Deputy Resident City Commissioner, Sheikh Kassim Kamugisha, told journalists yesterday that a group of about 40 people demolished Prime Care Nursery and Primary School, a private school, on Sunday night.

Mr Kamugisha said security officers have not yet confirmed the identities of the people involved in the demolition. But he described the act as illegal.

“President Museveni has ordered that no evictions take place unless a court order is obtained or consent is given by the district security committee. So no one is allowed to evict anyone without a court order, and in our office, we have not seen the court order allowing the demolition of this school, which is nearby,” he said.

The Kampala Metropolitan deputy police spokesperson, Mr Luke Owoyesigire yesterday,  said police officers confiscated equipment found at the site and have so far  arrested five people, including the driver of an excavator. 

“The suspects are held at the Jinja Road Police Station. We shall update the public on Tuesday (today) about this matter. 

“For now, we don’t have details about the people who demolished the school or even the identities of the landlord and school owner,” he said.

Mr Paul Mugamba, the Nakawa mayor, however, said the landlord and Patrick Wanzaala, the proprietor of Prime Care Nursery and Primary School, have been at loggerheads over compensation for developments on the land.

“Wanzaala wants to be paid Shs150m for building a school and other developments, but the landlord has refused to pay,” he said.

According to Falira Petrah, the school bursar, last Thursday,  one of the guards at  Mr Kamugisha’s office informed her about an impending attack at the school. 

When she alerted the boss, he went and discussed it with Mr Kamugisha who advised him to get security to secure the property. 

Mr Patrick Wanzala, the school proprietor, told Monitor that he could not disclose the identities of the landowner and other information because of a court case. 

He added that he was not at liberty to speak until March 23,  when the matter will come up in court.
“The information is confidential. But the issue is, if we are observing the rule of law, why is it that when I got information about an attack on Saturday and asked security for protection, the police and the army could not protect me. How safe am I?” he wondered.

The directive

President Museveni issued guidelines on February 28,2022 under  under Article 98(1) and 99(1) of the Constitution. He  banned  land evictions  which  are carried out without the consent of the respective District Security Committees (DSC) court orders.