By Henry Okello
TORORO
Katerema Secondary School in Tororo District has been temporarily closed for two weeks after a week-long student strike over alleged financial mismanagement and deteriorating administration.
The closure was ordered on Wednesday, 8th July, 2026 following a crisis meeting that brought together the school’s Board of Governors, district security leaders, teachers, and student representatives. The meeting ended in deadlock, with neither side willing to concede.
Tororo District Education Officer, Albert Odoi said the District Security Committee recommended the shutdown to allow investigations and restore calm.
“We all attended the meeting, including the DISO, the RDC and the Board of Governors. Both learners and teachers expressed unwillingness to continue with the current learning environment, with each side presenting hard conditions,” Odoi told our reporter.
“The security committee therefore advised that the school be closed for two weeks as we look for a lasting solution.”
Following the directive, police officers were deployed to the school to supervise a peaceful evacuation and prevent destruction of property.
Students were instructed to return home and report back in two weeks accompanied by parents or guardians.
Tororo Resident District Commissioner, Sadiq Bategana said the deployment was purely preventive.
“As the district security head, my responsibility is not only to monitor government programmes but also to protect lives and property. We therefore acted to ensure peace and prevent any possible destruction,” Bategana said.
Student leaders have accused Headteacher, Frederick Brian Osamuk of financial mismanagement, poor leadership, and decisions they say have driven academic standards down.
According to Stephen Opendi, the school’s UNSA chairperson, learners were asked to pay Shs10,000 each for extra lessons that were never conducted.
Candidates also contributed Shs40,000 each for an educational trip to Kampala, only to be told later that the excursion had been downgraded to a tour within Tororo District.
“The headteacher asked students to pay for extra lessons but no lessons were conducted. Candidates also paid Shs40,000 for a study tour to Kampala but after paying, we were informed that the trip had been changed to within Tororo,” Opendi said.
The students further allege that the headteacher transferred experienced teachers — including Geography teacher Mr. Ochola and English teacher Brenda Asuka — and replaced them with less qualified staff.
Other grievances include a strained relationship between administration and staff that has left some teachers staying away from school, and a grounded school bus that has not been repaired despite repeated requests.
“Our school bus has been grounded for a long time. Whenever we ask for it to be repaired, the headteacher says there is no money. We keep asking ourselves where our money is going,” said student Phiona Achieng.
Students also claim the administration scrapped bursary opportunities while raising fees sharply.
Day scholar fees, they say, jumped from Shs47,000 to Shs70,000, while feeding fees doubled from Shs40,000 to Shs80,000.
Efforts to get a comment from the Headteacher were unsuccessful. He was not at the school and had not responded to phone calls or the allegations by press time.
This is not the first time Katerima has been rocked by unrest. In 2023, a prolonged strike over similar grievances led to the transfer of several teachers. Since then, local leaders say the school has struggled with declining academic performance and falling enrolment.
District authorities have now launched investigations into the latest strike, with the aim of identifying root causes and recommending measures to restore stability and improve management at the school.
