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Last Updated on: 16th February 2022, 10:16 am
By government policy, each sub-county in the country should have a well-built secondary school.
By Frank Oyugi
Alebtong – February 16, 2022: The construction of a seed secondary school in the newly created Angetta sub-county in the Alebtong district is set to commence soon.
At least TND News can authoritatively disclose that a total of shillings 700m was disbursed to the coffers of Alebtong district local government for its construction.
By government policy, each sub-county in the country should have a well-built secondary school as a measure to ensure children have easy access to education facilities.
Angetta is among the seven newly created administrative units in Alebtong and without a government-aided secondary school.
It is against this background that Ajuri County MP, also the state minister of sports in the ministry of education on February 15, 2021, wrote to the permanent secretary in the line ministry requesting for a seed secondary school to be established.
‘As you may be aware, more administrative units were created in the recent past in different parts of the country. Ajuri County-Alebtong district currently has seven (7) administrative units namely Abako, Awei, Amugu, Angetta, Omoro, Adwir sub-counties, and Amugu Town council,” Obua’s letter to the PS reads in part.
He then added, “However, of the seven administrative units, three sub-counties of Angetta, Adwir, and Amugu do not have government-aided secondary schools ( seed schools).”
On March 16, 2021, Alex Kakooza, the permanent secretary wrote back to minister Obua and notified him that the ministry would initially consider providing for the construction of a seed secondary school in one sub-county under the consolidated development grant over three years.
“Alebtong district local government has to fit within the ceiling of shillings 2.1b. Alebtong district local government should identify acres of land free encumbrance earmarked for the construction of the proposed seed secondary school,” reads the letter from Kakooza.
Why Angetta?
After receipt of the communication from the permanent secretary, minister Obua then indicated to the three newly created sub-counties that the first sub-county to identify and provide land would take the day since the government is constructing the seed schools in a phased manner.
As you read this story, the rest of the two sub-counties of Amugu and Adwir are still struggling to identify land, with leaders facing resistance from some of the community leaders and the locals.
Paddy Francis Ogwang Abwang is the LC III chairperson of Adwir sub-county. On Saturday while addressing a gathering of LC1 chairpersons convened to discuss matters of education, he told Denis Hamson Obua that he rallied the community with the intent that each household should raise a minimum of shillings 11,000 for purchasing land for a seed secondary school but has faced a setback.
“Hon Minister, we are facing a very big challenge with the issue of acquiring land for Adwir seed secondary school, some of our opponents who stood against me and who contested with you but failed are moving around discouraging the community from raising funds on grounds that it is government to provide land, so we are seeking for an answer from you today,” Ogwang told Obua.
In his response, Obua made it clear that the onus is on the community to provide land for the construction of a seed secondary school while it is the responsibility of the government to erect structures.
Obua further warned those who contested in the recent elections and lost to pave way for development and allow elected leaders to perfume their tasks as they wait for the next elections.
“I want to state it clearly and I will not mince words, if there is no Land, then there is no seed secondary school,” an assertive minister told his constituents.
And this is how Angetta stole the show. Its chairperson Robert Okullo told the minister that each household raised shillings 10,000 which they used to purchase land for the construction of a seed secondary school.
Both Okullo and Obua lauded the community for supporting development.
Meanwhile, in all the three sub-counties of Adwir, Omoro, and Agetta where Obua met with the LC1 chairpersons over the weekend, he issued documents indicating the government’s releases to their specific schools.
At the same meeting, he tasked them to track the UPE funds and report how it has been spent.
Minister Obua has sparked a wave aimed at revamping the deteriorating education performance in the district.
On Friday, he interrogated the Alebtong education department and realized anomalies in how the funds were used which caused the acting district education officer Moses Olwit to record a statement.
