Gulu | A shs6.28 billion World Bank-funded project to construct two long-promised Seed Secondary Schools in Acholi sub-region has finally taken off after nearly six years of delays, with local leaders warning that the project must not become another stalled government investment.
The Ministry of Education and Sports officially handed over construction sites for Laroo Seed Secondary School in Gulu City and Pajule Seed Secondary School in Pader district under the Uganda Secondary Education Expansion Project (USEEP), ending years of uncertainty over a project first announced in 2020.
For students at Laroo Seed Secondary School, the groundbreaking marks the end of a decade of learning without a permanent campus.
Since opening in 2016, the school has operated from borrowed classrooms at Gulu Town Primary School, with more than 200 learners sharing just five classrooms and lacking an administration block, science laboratories, ICT facilities and other basic infrastructure.
The prolonged delay has sparked fresh questions about the pace of implementing donor-funded education projects and the cost of waiting for communities that have long demanded better access to secondary education.
“We have waited many years for this day and what we now need is transparency and accountability and the contractor must deliver quality work on time because this school has waited long enough,” said Irene Mbabazi, the school’s head teacher.
Mbabazi said enrolment has grown from just one student when the school opened in 2016 to more than 200 learners today despite operating under difficult conditions.
She believes the new facilities could significantly increase enrolment but insisted the project must remain under public scrutiny from start to finish.
During the site handover ceremony, Gulu City Mayor Julius Labeja Acire challenged the contractor, ZEEP Construction Uganda Limited, to regularly disclose construction progress and involve local leaders in monitoring the works.
“This is public money and the community deserves to know how every stage of construction is progressing,” Labeja said.
He directed the contractor to prioritize local labour and businesses while complying with all engineering and building standards.
The mayor also proposed that members of the school management committee participate in routine site inspections to strengthen oversight.
USEEP Project Manager Eng. Justine Odong warned that the World Bank-funded project would be closely monitored and that the contractor would not be allowed to seek unnecessary extensions or additional costs.
Construction is expected to begin within two weeks of the site handover.
“There will be no room for delays and failure to complete the project within the contract period will attract sanctions,” Odong warned.
He also revealed that six planned Seed Secondary Schools elsewhere in Uganda had already been dropped from the programme because of unresolved land ownership disputes, highlighting governance challenges that continue to undermine public infrastructure projects.
The contractor, ZEEP Construction Uganda Limited, promised to complete the project on schedule and employ local workers.
Managing Director Andrew Cohen Olal said the company would maintain open communication with the community throughout construction.
“We welcome public monitoring because this project belongs to the people,” Olal said.
The shs6,275,760,530 contract will deliver modern infrastructure at both Laroo and Pajule Seed Secondary Schools, including classrooms, administration blocks, ICT and science laboratories, libraries, teachers’ resource rooms and other facilities aimed at improving learning outcomes.
The project forms part of the government’s national programme to construct 116 new Seed Secondary Schools and expand 61 existing schools in refugee-hosting districts.
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