School head, two teachers held over Uneb malpractice

The head teacher of Old Kampala Secondary School, Mr Williams Suuna, and two other teachers have been arrested on suspicion of being involved in examination malpractice during the ongoing Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) exams.

Mr Patrick Onyango, the Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson, said their officers from the Uneb examination security and surveillance team received information about suspected examination malpractice at Old Kampala Senior Secondary School on Tuesday and arrested the head teacher.

Also arrested are Ms Karen Kunira, a teacher at Nakaseke Seed Secondary School, and Mr Gilbert Luyima, who teaches at Bank Hill College in Zana.

Initial police investigations reveal that the two teachers were apprehended while allegedly tampering with examination papers of History and Geography in the office of the head teacher at Old Kampala Senior Secondary School.

It is alleged that Mr Luyima had come to visit his children, one in senior four and one at Old Kampala SS. However, he was later discovered in the head teacher’s office along with his colleague.

Upon conducting a search, the suspects were found in possession of two papers, History Paper One and Paper Four, both with instructions. Additionally, a copy of Geography Paper Two was found.

These were arrested a day before the History paper was to be undertaken. Candidates, who started exams last week sat History papers yesterday.

“The Uneb security arrested the trio on allegations of examination malpractice and took them to Old Kampala Police Station for statement recording as investigations continue,” Mr Onyango stated.

The Executive Director of the Uganda National Examinations Board, Mr Daniel Odongo, confirmed his awareness of the arrest of the trio.
He said this is not the first time that individuals, including school heads and teachers, have claimed to have Uneb examination materials.
“Unfortunately, there are schools and parents who believe in those things and they spend a lot of money to acquire those fake papers. However, when they actually use them, they realise they were concentrating on counterfeit materials,” Mr Odongo said.

Similarly, Uneb yesterday  apprehended a man who was distributing counterfeit examination papers on social media, purporting them to be Uneb examinations.

The 20-year-old suspect, Seguya Abdu Karee, alias Fresh Kareem on social media, shared video clips of past papers.

According to his confession, he altered the year to make them appear as 2023 examination papers. Kareem is a 2020 UCE candidate who wrote his examinations in 2021 and is currently studying a building and construction course. He admitted to doing this to gain a large following. Kareem has been detained at Kampala Metropolitan Police.

Since the beginning of UCE examinations last week, several school heads have been arrested in connection with examination malpractice.

Last week, the head teacher of Paul Mukasa S.S. in Nagalama was arrested for allegedly sharing fake UNEB examination paper information and extorting money from the public.

In another incident, police in Bushenyi arrested the head teacher of Kanyabwanga Secondary School for distributing information purported to be examination material for a Biology practical paper.

Last month, Uneb security working in conjunction with the police arrested a chief invigilator and three head teachers from different schools on allegations of examination malpractice. This group appeared before Buganda Road Court to face charges related to examination malpractice.

According to Section 25(2) of the UCC Act, any individual who intentionally or negligently aids or causes a candidate to gain unlawful possession of examination material is subject to a fine of up to Shs 20 million or imprisonment for up to 5 years, or both.