Richard Okello who was teaching at Seeta Junior School, in Mukono district, owned by the Minister for Higher Education Dr Chrysostom Muyingo has been missing for nine days now, after being abducted from the school’s teachers quarters on November 6, 2018 minister Muyingo’s bodyguard.
According to his lawyers of Alliance Advocates, Okello was allegedly arrested by the Minister’s bodyguards a few days after he exposed a leakage of Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE), which led to the arrest of several teachers from various schools in and around Kampala.
After disappearing for several days without any crime being lodged against him, Okello’s lawyers have since petitioned the office of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions Mike Chibita, such that he DPP’s office intervenes in the matter so that he can either be produced in Court to his answers if any, or be freed from illegal detention.
The petition which is copied to the Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga and others states thus; PETITION FOR YOUR URGENT INTERVENTION TO HALT THE PERSECUTION OF OUR CLIENT OKELLO RICHARD FOR EXPOSING EXAMINATION MALPRACTICE IN THE RECENTLY NATIONAL PRIMARY LEAVING EXAMINATION CRB200/19.
We proceed on instruction of our client mentioned above to address you as follows;Our client is employed as an English teacher at Seeta Junior School, Mbalala Campus. This school we’re informed is owned by Hon. John Chrysostom Muyingo, the minister for higher Education; we shall revert to this later in the complaint.
Our Client informs us that on or about November 5, 2019, in the recently concluded PLE, he was appointed Examination Scout and was working under a team led by Commissioner CIID Richard Mwesigye. That in the course of executing their work they arrested several teachers involved in examination malpractices, and in particular the following schools were affected;Seeta Junior School, where they arrested teachers Odeke and Ejabu.
They were arrested by Commissioner Richard Mwesigye on a tip off from our client. The mobile phones confiscated from these teachers showed that they circulated the leaked examination on WhatsApp platforms of several schools including; Global Junior School, Mukono Junior School, Shiloh Primary School, to mention but a few.
Several other arrests were carried out in various schools within Kampala and records are with various police stations where the culprits are detained. Our Client can give details. Our client worked with two police officers namely; Mayende and Mafabi. All the arrests were carried out within the confines of the law.
Our client informs us that when Hon. John Chrysostom Muyingo heard about the arrest of his teachers over examination malpractices, he reportedly pushed for their release and they were released on bond from Jinja Road Police at night.
That on the 6th Day of November, the bodyguard of the above minister arrested our client from throughout teachers quarters of Seeta Junior School, reportedly on orders of the said minister. Our client has since then been in detention in various police stations including Mukono Central Police, Katwe Police Station and Jinja Road Police.
Clearly he has been in detention for over 8 days without being produced and charged in a Court of law. This of course is a gross violation of his constitutional rights and a presumption of innocence.
My Lord our client believes that he is being illegally detained after he exposed examination malpractices in Seeta Junior School owned by the minister of state for education. He believes that the trumped up charges for which he is being held, are a cover up for the more serious and heinous crime of cheating national examination for which the which teachers of Seeta Junior School should be held culpable.
It shocking that the police is not focusing on prosecuting the examination cheats but manufacturing all kinds of charges to silence our client who helped to expose a serious vice that’s eating up our education system.My Lord, we have raised our concern with you, being the constitutionally mandated office to control and supervise all criminal proceedings in the country, so that you intervene and stop this unlawful and capricious cover up of a serious offense of examination cheating in a school reportedly owned by the minister for education.
We also believe this case many have far reaching policy considerations in terms of whether a regulator of a sector can be a neutral, honest and fair player in the same sector…”However, our efforts contacts the management of Seeta Junior School and minister Muyingo were futile, because they were not readily available on phone.
