At least 64 computers installed in three government seed secondary schools in Bunyoro sub-region have been stolen in two years. The computers were stolen between November 2022 and May 2024.
The affected schools are Kigorobya Seed Secondary School in Hoima district, Nyairongo in Kikuube district, and Butiaba Seed Secondary School in Buliisa district.
In one of the incidents, thugs raided Kigorobya Seed Secondary School in November 2022 and made off with 16 of the 29 newly installed computers at the school.
The thugs then reportedly gained entrance into the computer room through the window that they broke. This led to the arrest of three suspects including Julius Bigirwa and Richard Musinguzi, both school guards, and James Mbabazi, a teacher. To date, the computers have never been recovered.
Dr. Saul Mubanda Muyigwa, the school headteacher says they are still coordinating with the police to investigate and recover the stolen computers.
In another incident, unknown thugs raided Butiaba Seed secondary school in Buliisa district last month and stole 21 computers installed in the computer lab. The thugs reportedly took advantage of a heavy downpour at the time. The theft of the computers led to the arrest of two suspects.
The suspects that included Godfrey Rwamukaga and Alfred Bigirwenkya both guards attached to the school have since been remanded to Buliisa government prison. Despite their arrest and detention, the stolen computers have never been recovered.
The latest incident was last week when unknown thugs raided Nyairongo Seed Secondary School in Kikuube district and stole 27 computers. The thugs gained entrance into the computer room after breaking the window.
Two suspects have since been arrested and detained at Kikuube central police station following the incident. The suspects are Celestine Natukunda 32, the school guard, and Sharif Besige, the assistant lab attendant.
Communities settling near these affected schools suspect connivance between some of the school authorities and the thugs.
Patrick Musinguzi, a resident of Kigorobya in Hoima says, the theft of computers is adversely and negatively impacting the education of students, especially in the Information Technology-IT department.
Julius Hakiza, the Albertine region police spokesperson says, in all the incidents, police and the school authorities are yet to recover the stolen computers.
He adds that the investigation team is continuing to pursue other leads related to the theft of the computers in all three schools to ensure that they are recovered stating that the public should have trust in the police as they execute their duty.
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