Police in Busia District have arrested two teachers of Buhobe Secondary School over allegations of failing to account for Shs910,000 collected from 14 Senior Six students who applied for government university sponsorship.
The suspects are Patrick Onyango, the school’s current Director of Studies (DOS), and Moses Wanyonyi Guyoni, a former DOS.
The money was collected from students who sat the 2025/2026 Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) examinations and intended to apply for government sponsorship through the Public University Joint Admissions Board (PUJAB).
Each of the 14 students reportedly paid Shs65,000 for the application process, bringing the total amount collected to Shs910,000.
The arrests followed a directive by Busia Resident District Commissioner Hajira Namagogwe after receiving a complaint from Justine Bizibu, one of the affected students.
Namagogwe confirmed the arrests and said the teachers would face charges related to abuse of office. She said she visited the school and established that the money had not been remitted to PUJAB.
According to Namagogwe, the failure to submit the students’ applications may have affected their chances of securing government sponsorship under the national merit and district quota schemes.
She apologised to the affected students and their parents, saying the delay in resolving the matter had contributed to some students missing opportunities to join public universities on government sponsorship.
Bizibu, who scored 18 points in the 2025/2026 UACE examinations, said he approached the school after learning about the PUJAB application process because he hoped to pursue university studies under government sponsorship.
However, he said he was disappointed when his name did not appear among students admitted under either the national merit or district quota scheme.
Bizibu said he is now unable to proceed with university because his mother, a peasant farmer, cannot afford tuition. He said he hopes to become a doctor and appealed to authorities to help him secure an opportunity to continue his education.
His mother, Caroline Chakuwa, said the family had expected Bizibu to obtain government sponsorship after his strong performance in the examinations.
She said she struggled to raise the Shs65,000 application fee and questioned why the school had failed to account for the money. Chakuwa added that she had also given two hens to the school’s A-Level teachers as a token of appreciation for teaching her son.
The school head teacher, Deogracious Mugeni, acknowledged that the students’ names had not been submitted. He attributed the failure to what he described as interference with the PUJAB online portal used by the school.
However, a staff member who requested anonymity alleged that the current DOS deliberately failed to submit the students’ names and money, allegedly with the intention of misappropriating the funds.
The allegation has not been independently verified.
Stephen Mayende Awangale, the Busia District councillor representing Bulumbi Sub-county, said complaints of teachers allegedly mismanaging students’ money were common at the school. He urged the authorities to allow the law to take its course if investigations establish that the suspects committed the offences.
The two teachers were recording statements at Busia Central Police Station as investigations into the allegations continued.
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