No clue about cause of Kyotera School fire a week later  

Police in Kyotera District have not yet made any headway in establishing the cause of fire that gutted a dormitory at St. John’s Primary School 10 days ago.

The inferno killed Savio Kasozi, a primary four pupil and also destroyed a boys’ dormitory at the school.

According to Mr Hassan Hiwumbire, the Kyotera District Police Commander, the investigating team is still camping at the school, looking for clues to facilitate their inquest and arrest.

“It is still unclear whether it was a coincidental act of naughty characters or a coordinated act of sabotage. This is why we have not arrested any suspect,” he said in an interview on Sunday.

“Our teams from here and Kampala are still on ground, working tirelessly to establish what exactly sparked off the fire,” he added.  

Mr Hiwumbire further explained that the school is also under tight security to avoid tampering with any evidence, which could lead them to the suspected arsonists.

Pupils who had been sent back home are expected to return today to resume normal classes.

Mr Paul Ssegawa , the director of studies at the school told Monitor that the pupils and teachers have been counselled and is positive that they are now ready.

“Losing the life of a young soul in such a way is not something easy. The teachers, parents and pupils are still coping with grief and loss, but we have tried to get professional counselors who attend to them,” he said, adding that the counselling sessions will continue throughout the term.

Police halts renovation of burnt dormitory

Police have, however, stopped the school administration from renovating the gutted dormitory, insisting it might disrupt the ongoing investigations.

“We have advised them [school administration] to wait for investigations to be completed so that they can embark on renovations,” Mr Hiwumbire explained.

Mr John Lubowa, the school director urged parents to return the children to school as he assured them of maximum security.

“We are trying to do our level best to create a good learning environment for our pupils and we have tightened security around the school premises,” he said.

On the same night fire gutted the dormitory at St. John’s Primary School, similar incident occurred at New Crest Junior at Kibedi Day and Boarding Primary School in Kawempe Division, Kampala, leaving four pupils dead and three others injured.

Our snap survey in some schools in Kyotera and Rakai Districts last week revealed both safety and security rules are not followed.

Although rules require every dormitory to have an emergency exit door, many schools we visited only have single entry-exits, some of which are locked from the outside at night. Many schools also lack fire extinguishers while others still have outlawed triple –decker beds and burglar proofs windows.

Fire background

The area has in the last four years registered three school fires which included Kyotera Infant Primary school, Heroes Secondary School and St. Benard’s Mannya Secondary School where 11 students lost lives and over 30 sustained injuries.

Police are, however, yet to release conclusive reports on all these fires.