Police in Kiryandongo district are currently holding four secondary school teachers over alleged extortion in a government aided secondary school.
The teachers who were arrested on April 1 are identified as Jimmy Akena Loul, Sarah Tuhaise, 52, Director of Studies Gofrey Kwemara, 46, and Friday Paul, 38. They are all from Kibanda Secondary School in Kibanda sub-county, Kiryandongo district.
The arrest follows complaints from parents who accused the teachers of forcing them to sign agreements compelling them to pay money or risk having their children sent home.
Samuel Mbabazi, the Resident District Commissioner (RDC) said the arrest of the four followed continuous parents’ complaints on alleged cases of extortion by the school.
The suspects told parents that they were taking money from them to cater for the Parents and Teachers Association (PTA).
Several times, the RDC said, security have intervened in the matter to harmonise the situation but still some teachers kept on deaf ears- thus leading to their arrests.
“As the district head of security and police, we have engaged both the parents and school on the matter of extortion. Some parents come to our offices complaining that the school is asking them to write payment contracts worth shs200,000,” he revealed.
According to the Assistant RDC, the government allocates shs60,000 for O-Level education and shs80,000 for A-Level education for students enrolled in government-aided schools.
He said even the government does not accept such acts within the public service delivery points, warning the accused to desist from such illegalities.
During the arrest, he revealed that some of the arrested teachers, including the Director of Studies, allegedly mobilised students to stage a demonstration in an attempt to block their arrest.
William Adriko, a parent of two children at the same school, said that the staff had made it a habit of extorting money from parents.
He revealed that the school has been charging an amount ranging from shs150,000 to shs200,000 as PTA contributions, excluding lunch fees, with no clear accountability.
He further alleged that school administrators are pressuring them to use funds obtained under the Parish Development Model (PDM) to meet these payments.
Adriko also noted that earlier on March 28, the school had organised a PTA meeting but surprisingly his children were sent home for “fees” on Monday.
“Last week on Friday March 28, 2026, we had a PTA meeting but it was out of surprise to see my children sent home for money,” he said.
Adriko wonders why the Universal Secondary Education (USE) schools also get involved in such an act of extorting from parents who barely raise money.
Abalo Teddy, another concerned parent, expressed frustration over the school’s improper accountability regarding the funds paid by parents.
The school headteacher, Sarah Ssekalumba has reportedly fled the school for safety following the arrest of her teachers.
However, Rev Edward Kiirya, the District Education Officer, stated that investigations into extortion claims at all government schools are ongoing.
While the meeting was in progress at the school, one staff member allegedly incited students to vandalize a security motorcycle and harass security personnel. This ultimately led to the arrest of four: one female and three male teachers.
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