Jinja district councillors uncover widespread ghost learner scam in schools

A recent investigation by Jinja District councillors has uncovered a widespread scam involving the registration of ghost learners in government primary and secondary schools.

The fraudulent practice, which has been ongoing for several years, has resulted in the government losing millions of shillings in grants meant for Universal Primary Education (UPE) and Universal Secondary Education (USE).

During a heated council meeting, chaired by Deputy Speaker Moses Lwochaza, councillors expressed deep concern over the inflated student registers that artificially boost school enrollment figures.

These inflated numbers have allowed unscrupulous headteachers to secure larger UPE and USE grants from the government, with funds intended to support genuine students being misappropriated.

Moses Batwala, the LCV Chairman of Jinja District, described the situation as a "serious issue"  emphasizing the need for immediate action to rectify the situation.

Lillian Nakamate, the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of Jinja District, was tasked by the councillors to explain how this fraudulent activity has gone unnoticed for so long. Nakamate assured the council that a thorough investigation would be conducted to identify those responsible and to implement measures to prevent future occurrences.

"A month ago the Ministry of Education and Sports tasked all the accounting officers across the country to liaise with District internal Officers (DISOs) and Gombolola Internal Officers (GISOs) to carry out a head count of all learners in schools", Nakamatte revealed.

She stated that after analysis by the Ministry of Education and Sports the results shall be disbursed to different districts thats when they will get to know the number of leaners they have.

Nakamatte explained circumstances under which there has been a variance in number of learners, "every beginning of the year, we carry out an audit of the learners in schools which we forward to the line Ministry"

She  says the challenges come during implementation in the new financial year which starts in July, when some learners had been transferred by their  parents or dropped out of school which causes variance between the actual number of learners in school and official captured number.

Abdallah Rahman Mujoma, the Youth Councillor, also voiced his concerns, calling for a comprehensive audit of all school registers across the district.

"We cannot allow this to continue. The funds meant to educate our children are being stolen, and it must stop," Mujoma declared.

The discovery of ghost learners has prompted the Jinja District Council to push for urgent reforms, including stricter monitoring and auditing processes to ensure that only genuine students benefit from government-funded education programs.

The council is expected to collaborate closely with the Ministry of Education and other relevant authorities to address the issue and restore integrity to the UPE and USE systems.

As the investigation unfolds, the district's leadership has pledged to hold accountable any individuals found to be complicit in the scheme, with the ultimate goal of safeguarding educational resources for the future of Uganda's children.