By Kato Jamil
The Speaker of Parliament, Anita Among has ordered for a probe into allegations of bribery, extortion and nepotism in the recruitment of teaching and non-teaching staff in seed schools.
Seed schools are those schools constructed by the government through the Uganda Inter-Governmental Fiscal Transfers (UGlFT) Programme financed by the World Bank.
The Speaker’s directive followed a Statement on the ongoing recruitment of staff in schools built under the UGIFT programme presented by the State Minister for Sports, Hon. Peter Ogwang, during the plenary sitting of Wednesday, 27 November 2024.
The Minister said he had received complaints about extortion and bribery where teachers are asked to pay money in order to be seconded to the seed schools with the hope of being regularized in the Education Service Commission.
“The ministry and the Education Service Commission have received credible information of irregular secondment of staff to these schools with the view that their appointments shall be legalised by the Education Service Commission. This was being done on condition that prospective teachers pay hefty sums of money to be included on the list of sitting teachers,” said Ogwang.
As a result, staff who used to teach in these schools before they were upgraded into seed schools were left out in the recruitment process, and have stirred conflicts countrywide.
Ogwang tabled a letter by John Etwalu, a teacher from Serere District, asking the Permanent Secretary in the Education Ministry to challenge the recruitment at Ababai Secondary School, where the Head teacher’s wife was hired leaving him and other sitting teachers out.
The minister attested to allegations that the local government leaders are guilty of meddling in the recruitment process by producing conflicting lists of staff for recruitment to the Education Service Commission.
“As a result, the Education Service Commission has failed to recruit in some of the schools because of conflicting lists. The Commission kept receiving conflicting lists from various stakeholders and it became nearly impossible to independently verify the authenticity of the lists,” Ogwang said.
The Speaker decried the glaring reports of nepotism, extortion and interference by local political leaders in the recruitment process, and directed the Education and Sports Committee to take the lead working jointly with the Committee on Public Service and Local Government in carrying out the investigation.
“For all those that have been mentioned we expect a report from the Ministry of Education indicating where investigations have been conducted, and if teachers have been given a fair hearing, among others. This report should go to the Committee on Education and Sports, and the Committee on Public Service and Local Government. Let the committees examine the matter, persons who are affected should be given a fair hearing,” said Among.
MPs accused the Education Ministry which they said was discriminating against the existing teachers of schools benefiting from the UGIFT programme.
“I went with my Chairperson LCV, the Chief Administrative Officer and the MP for Kyaka North, we met the former and current Permanent Secretaries of the Education Ministry. They told us they were going to advertise and give sitting teachers first priority. I get disturbed with such reports, all we seek is that let them be given first priority if they pass the competence test,” said the Deputy Attorney General, Jackson Kafuuzi.
Kafuuzi said that one of the schools he founded in 2016 was later taken over by government as a seed school, where teachers have been working as volunteers for the past six years, a contribution that should not be overlooked in the recruitment process.
In the statement, Ogwang said that government has constructed 117 seed schools through the first phase of the UGIFT programme and has granted aid to 46 privately owned secondary schools covering the teachers’ salaries. A total of 115 schools are under construction in the second phase of the programme.
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