Following allegations that a warden had sodomized seven students, the state’s minister for primary education, Dr. Joyce Moriku Kaducu, has suspended the residential program at Mubende Public Model Primary School indefinitely.
Dr. Kaducu claimed that the boarding area was crowded with students sleeping in triple-deck bunk beds that were forbidden and served as breeding grounds for immoral behavior like homosexuality. At least 350 students were accommodated in five compact rooms, with the bulk in the baby area and Primary Seven.
“I want you to tell the parents that you have been operating an illegal boarding section and no guidelines were being followed. I guess that is why homosexuality has been thriving in the dormitories. How can you let children sleep in that manner?” the minister angrily questioned as she ordered the school management to close the boarding section on Friday.
The minister claimed that students were illegally sharing beds in each dorm. The minister also criticized Mubende Municipality employees for failing to do their duty of inspecting schools.
“This boarding section could have been closed a long time ago if the local authorities were doing their work,” she said
A school warden was detained by local police a few days prior to the minister’s involvement after seven pupils accused him of sodomizing them.
A parent at the school went to Ms. Rosemary Byabasaija’s office on Wednesday and claimed that his 13-year-old son had been sodomized by a warden there, according to Ms. Byabasaija, the Mubende Resident District Commissioner.
“I convened a district security committee and we invited the parents and the school management and the administration openly admitted that it is true the warden, Brian Mukisa had carnal knowledge with a Primary Seven pupil and the school is currently footing his treatment costs,” she said.
The suspect was eventually escorted to court where he entered a guilty plea and was detained to Kaweeri Prison for punishment, according to Ms. Byabasaija, who claimed she gave the order to arrest the suspect right away after the security meeting.
The seven victims are being given psychosocial support, according to Ms. Byabasaija.
The father of one of the victims claimed that his son had been tormented physically and mentally and now shudders whenever a man approaches him.
“My son is still feeling much pain however much he is on treatment. He even has bruises on the neck, meaning he was being forced into this evil act,” he said.
The principal of the school, Mr. James Bangirana, refuses to comment on the situation.
This occurs shortly after the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, 2023 was passed by members of parliament on March 20. At the last minute, the death penalty was added as a punishment for those found guilty of Aggravated Homosexuality.