The State Minister for Lands, Sam Mayanja, has ordered the State House Anti-Corruption Unit to investigate efforts by Indians to evict Hoima Public Government School and replace it with a plaza.
According to a teacher who prefers anonymity, in 2022, Indians who are running the school as registered trustees of Hoima Education Society leased a section of the land to the American Tower Cooperation, which built a mast in the school.
He said that the Indians recently leased another section of the land currently used by the children as a playground for the construction of a shopping mall.
“They are also being accused of suggesting the closure of the primary seven boarding section that was initiated by the Parents and Teachers Association (PTA),” the teacher said.
The Hoima City Principal Education Officer, Johnson Kusiima Baingana, said the Indians have also gone against the Universal Primary Education (UPE) guidelines by imposing financial requirements on the pupils and limiting the number of pupils to 600, contrary to the guidelines.
“The Indians wanted to reduce enrollment under the umbrella of improving academic performance, which is against the UPE (Universal Primary Education) guidelines. They wanted to introduce some fees, yet it is also not allowed under the UPE arrangement since the school is meant to help the children of the poor,” he says.
In June 2023, the Hoima City East Division Council, led by Bosco Muhanuuzi, petitioned Parliament, seeking it to secure funds to compensate the Indians who had interests in Hoima Public Primary School in order to have it turned into a purely public school.
