RDC blocks arrest of teachers
The Mukono Resident District Commissioner (RDC), Fatuma Ndisaba Nabitaka, has ordered police officers raiding homes of teachers conducting private lessons to stop with immediate effect.
This directive came as teachers stormed her office for a meeting over the same matter arguing that security forces have repeatedly targeted and arrested them at their homes while coaching learners.
“They find you with two or five children, they arrest you on allegations that you have gone against the directions of the president. I was wondering whether the president directed schools to close or directed teachers not to teach. Officers arrest us and they charge us a lot of money. That was my worry, I wanted to find out from the RDC,” David Kiwalabye, a teacher in the Central division of Mukono Municipality said.
Nabitaka says it has become a habit for police officers to arrest teachers found coaching learners in the private setting of their homes.
She explained that while schools stay closed for nearly two years under President Yoweri Museveni’s directive, some teachers have exercised means of survival by hosting a limited number of learners at their homes for study purposes.
RDC blocks arrest of teachers
Nabitaka argues that if a teacher has a number of learners not exceeding 10 doing coaching at their premises, there is no need to arrest them.
“If a parent has privately agreed with a teacher to coach learners at home, I don’t see why police should come in and arrest people. President shut schools because of Covid-19; if a police officer finds a teacher with less than ten learners then they have a problem. Because the president at a certain point wanted to buy radios and Tv’s for learners to study, meaning they would assemble,” she said.
She adds: “Some police officers just want to use excessive force under the disguise that they are working hard. If any police officer dares to arrest a teacher again under such circumstances, you all know my number just call me and they will be dealt with accordingly.”
President Museveni ordered the closure of schools in March 2020 following the outbreak of Covid-19 in Uganda.
During his last address on Covid-19 in September 2021, the president revealed that schools, with the exception of higher institutions of learning, would resume in January. He explained that the delay was to give room to learners and teachers to vaccinate.
