The director of St Mary’s Secondary School in Mbale City has been arrested by the police. The director is accused of creating fake results for students who took the Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) and Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) exams.
This alleged forgery occurred after the Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) withheld the school’s results due to unpaid fees. The director, who had been evading arrest since March, was apprehended in his office on Monday.
According to reports, the director, along with other school administrators, distributed counterfeit exam results to deceive affected students and their parents. The Elgon Regional Police Spokesperson, Mr. Rogers Taitika, stated, “We have arrested the school director for issuing forged results to students and failing to provide students with their actual results. Parents claim they paid school fees and Uneb registration fees.”
Mr. Taitika further mentioned that efforts are underway to locate other school managers to aid in the ongoing investigation. The director is currently facing charges related to receiving money under false pretenses, forgery, and embezzlement.
Records indicate that 87 students took the UCE exams, while 16 students sat for UACE exams at the school. Allegedly, the school did not remit the money collected from over 100 candidates to Uneb. Consequently, Uneb withheld the candidates’ results until the examination fees were settled.
Former school head teacher Mr. Milton Makunya denied allegations of embezzling registration money, stating, “That’s not true; I didn’t even embezzle a coin.” He asserted that he had left the school and attributed the financial management to the director and his wife, suggesting they should be responsible for the missing funds.
Mbale Resident City Commissioner Mr. John Rex Aachilla confirmed his directive to arrest the director and recommended the Ministry of Education to consider deregistering the school.
Mr. Peter Makai, a parent affected by the situation, expressed concerns that the students have yet to receive their authentic exam results.