EDITOR
Six education officials from Ntungamo District have been charged and remanded over allegations of inflating student enrollment figures to obtain capitation grants fraudulently.
The officials, who were arraigned before the Anti-Corruption Division of the High Court, face charges of causing financial loss and abuse of office.
The suspects include:
- Bahati Fred – District Education Officer (DEO)
- Nabaasa Gordon – Municipal Education Officer (MEO)
- Nabasa Rushegyera Abias – Former Head Teacher, Ntungamo Primary School
- Komuhangi Allen – Head Teacher, Ruhoko Primary School
- Munuunura Bernards – Head Teacher, Maato Primary School
- Ntereire Geoffrey – Head Teacher, Kikoni SDA Primary School
Investigations by the Anti-Corruption Unit, in collaboration with the Criminal Investigations Directorate and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, revealed that the head teachers had deliberately inflated the number of pupils in their respective schools to obtain larger capitation grants. Meanwhile, the district and municipal education officers failed to verify the figures before forwarding them to the Ministry of Education and Sports for funding.
According to the Ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development, capitation grants were disbursed for 124,817 pupils across 249 Universal Primary Education (UPE) schools in Ntungamo District for the financial year 2023/2024. However, a verification exercise confirmed that the actual number of pupils in the district was approximately 80,000, leading to the discovery of over 40,000 “ghost” pupils. This fraudulent scheme resulted in a financial loss estimated at UGX 1 billion.
The six accused officials have been remanded to Luzira government prison, with bail hearings set for March 18 and March 20, 2025.
Authorities have reaffirmed their commitment to rooting out corruption and ensuring accountability in the education sector.
The government has since pledged to strengthen monitoring mechanisms to prevent similar fraudulent activities and safeguard public resources meant for education development, according to the Statehouse Anti-Corruption Unit.
