NAKASEKE, UGANDA: At least 21 primary school headteachers in Nakaseke district are in trouble for allegedly forging academic papers to obtain promotions.
The headteachers are accused of forging Grade 111 certificates, degrees from universities, and certificates of registration from the Ministry of Education and Sports to gain promotion in the district.
The Nakaseke Chief Administrative Officer, Sarah Nakalungi says that the headteachers were serving as caretakers for schools but when the district asked for their papers for confirmation as substantive headteachers, they presented forged academic papers.
Nakalungi explains that a whistleblower notified her office and she forwarded the files of the accused persons to the Inspectorate of Government for further investigations.
She says that the Inspector General of Government has completed an investigation into the academic documents of one acting headteacher and recommended that she is forwarded to the District Service Commission for disciplinary action after she was found to have forged the Grade 111 certificate to gain promotion.
Nakalungi says that the headteacher has already been deleted from the payroll pending a report on the others.
According to Anne Twinomugisha Muhairwe, the Deputy IGG the accused headteacher told the investigating officers that indeed her Grade 111 certificate and certificate of registration from the Ministry of Education and Sports were forged at Nasser road in Kampala city.
In her January 17th, 2023 letter, Muhairwe also ordered the CAO to report the headteacher found with forged papers to the Police to face charges of uttering false documents.
Captain Yahaya Kakooza, the Nakaseke Resident District Commissioner, says that more teachers are in service using forged academic papers because the District Service Commission doesn’t do diligence when recruiting them.
According to Auditor General report for the year 2021/22, five other secondary teachers in Nakaseke also used forged minutes of the Education Service Commission to gain appointments.
The Auditor General said that the teachers drew Shillings 148 million as salaries in contravention of section (B – a) (1) & (2) of Uganda public service standing orders, 2021 requiring public officers to be appropriately appointed.
Auditor General John FS Muwanga said that he brought up the matter to the Accounting Officer to discontinue the salary payments and pledged to take up the matter with the police for further investigations.
There are 934 teachers deployed in 114 UPE schools and 12 community primary schools spread in the Nakaseke district.
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