Ever since Robert Kyagulanyi, the President of the National Unity Platform (NUP), revealed discriminatory practices by the leadership of St. Mary’s College Kisubi, the Ministry of Education as well as the Catholic Church have gone into conspicuous silence.
Kyagulanyi, whose son Solomon Kampala Ssekayi studies at SMACK, told a Parents meeting last weekend that his son has been targeted with apparent complicity from the leaders of the School.
From being denied his right to contest for student leadership in the school, to being falsely blackmailed as a drug abuser, Kyagulanyi revealed that the school’s policies are inconsistent with both the values of equality prescribed in the constitution but also cherished by the Catholic church.
Coming from Kyagulanyi, these allegations cannot be brushed under the carpet but instead deserve a swift response from the concerned bodies.
It is shocking therefore to learn that those in charge of the Catholic church and the Ministry of Education, have gone into dead silence about breaches of cardinal values of our society.
Ugandan laws including the Constitution, as well as the Catholic teachings uphold the value of protecting children against prejudice, exposure and mistreatment.
It is vital that the Ministry of Education and the Catholic Church come out with a statement to distance themselves from the repugnant behaviour of Brother Deodati Aganyira, the headteacher of the school.
Such a statement would help to reassure the parents,the students and the wider public that the institutions still care about the plight of the weak.
A clear position in support of oppressed parents would further warn those other schools and institutions that had similar practices to abandon them.
Other child protection agencies must also come out and add their voices to this debate so that some sanity is restored.
