Tension and grief have gripped Busamba Ward in Kisoro Municipality as residents protest the continued neglect of the former Kisoro Primary Teachers College (PTC), which has been left idle and is now being misused for grazing animals and hosting private functions.
The facility had been earmarked to become a health institute affiliated with Kabale University following the government’s adoption of the 2019 National Teacher Policy, which phased out Grade III teacher training colleges. In late 2023, Kisoro District Council resolved to repurpose the defunct PTC into a health training institute, with hopes of eventually granting it independent status.
However, nearly two years later, the institution remains abandoned. Residents say classrooms have been turned into cattle sheds, furniture is being used for overnight prayer meetings, and the compound now serves as grazing land and a venue for weddings a situation they describe as a shocking misuse of public resources.
According to Kazungu James, the LC1 chairperson of Bikoro A in Busamba Ward, Southern Division, the once well-equipped classroom blocks have been reduced to animal shelters.
“Buildings once considered permanent are now treated as temporary because they are occupied by animals and used for overnight conferences and wedding ceremonies,” he lamented.
James Agaba, the LCV councilor for Southern Division, called for patience, noting that affiliating the college to Kabale University requires legal and administrative processes, including agreements between the district and the university.
But Ndayisaba Emmanuel, the LCV councilor for Nyakinama Sub-County and one of the proponents of the 2023 resolution, blamed district leaders including the speaker, LCV chairman, and chief administrative officer for “redundancy and failure to implement council’s decision.”
Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) coordinator Musanase Juliet also demanded urgent intervention, saying the facility could have been a significant source of income for Kisoro District but has instead been reduced to grazing fields.
Kisoro LCV Chairman Abel Bizimana admitted that political divisions had slowed progress but insisted that plans were still on track. He revealed that Kabale University is currently waiting for a final letter from the Ministry of Education and Sports to officially take over the facility.
Founded on July 2, 1982, Kisoro PTC emerged from the merger of two study centres, one in Rubanda led by David Murasanyi and another at Seseme led by Munyangabo S.W. David. It once ranked among Uganda’s best teacher training colleges, taking third place nationally in the Grade III certificate exams in 2019 and second in 2020.
Today, however, the same classrooms and furniture that once shaped Uganda’s teachers are being used to shelter goats, pigs, sheep, and cattle, a stark fall from its former glory.
