Mukono Diocese authorities have strongly come up against people they referred to as self-seekers, seeking to fraudulently replace retiring head teachers in church-run schools, and clarified that any replacement is effected only with liaison between the diocese and authorities of the Ministry of Education and Sports.
In a media briefing held at Mpumu archdeaconry headquarters on Monday, the Diocesan Bishop, Rt. Rev. Enos Kitto Kagodo advised headteachers wishing to replace retiring headteachers in church schools to follow procedures as set out by the Education Act, rather than applying manipulative means.
Without mentioning names, Bishop Kagodo said there are some unscrupulous headteachers wishing to take over as school heads at the prestigious Mukono High School, after learning that the current headteacher Frederick Mbaziira Kawumi clocked his retirement age.
One of the said manipulators whom the Bishop kept referring to as self-seekers, went as far as producing a posting letter purporting to have obtained it from the Ministry of Education and Sports, allegedly assigning him to replace Kawumi.
Bp. Kagodo clarified further that although Kawumi clocked his retirement date at the end of August 2024, the diocese requested the Ministry to let him continue working up to the end of the year, to avoid interrupting set programmes, and in effect disrupting learners’ concentration.
He attributed the anomaly to the fact that Mukono High School is the leading Universal Secondary Education (USE) performer in the diocese, and that everybody would not miss the opportunity to take it over because of the fame it has generated over the years.
Contacted for comment, the Vice Chairman of Mukono High School Board of Governors, Daniel Luutu said that much as the school is in the process of transition of leadership following the current headteacher’s retirement last month, an agreement has been reached between the school and the Ministry for him to continue serving up to the end of the year.
Clarifying, Luutu said they decided to apply to the ministry to allow Kawumi continue working to the end of the year because he is handling a matter where a neighbour had encroached on school land and secondly, they feared his departure might interfere with the students’ performance, especially the finalists.
Again he added, the diocese which is the founder, had not been consulted before the alleged replacement of Richard Katongole, was being assigned to replace Kawumi.
An outstanding anomaly in the former’s assignment is the fact that he produced an assignment letter dated May, while Kawumi’s retirement fell in August.
Richard Katongole is one of the Deputy Headteachers for Bishop Senior School in Mukono Municipality.