Kabarole District Engineer Quizzed By UPE/USE Probe Team

he committee setup by the president to investigate the misuse of Universal Primary and Secondary Education has quizzed the Kabarole district engineer, Stephen Wakatama for presiding over shoddy classroom construction works.

The committee wanted to know whether the engineer has ever advised the district to have an operation and maintenance plan and budget to cater for repairs of school buildings which are in bad condition.

The engineer informed the committee that he had never advised as required and expected and accepted the responsibility.

The committee has discovered that classrooms recently constructed were at the verge of falling down because of shoddy works by constructors aided by the engineers who approve the works.

However, the engineer blamed the mess on inadequate staff in the engineering department to supervise all the construction works within the district.

Fort Portal’s hidden gem

It’s common for travelers to enter a town, sample a few of the happening spots and head out. Little do they notice how much lies beyond the town. The same happens to most people who go through Fort Portal town. A lot has been said and written about this town already. But tucked away 11km from the town whose leaders are dreaming of turning into a city, is a gem – Kluge’s guest farm.  The place is accessible by a first-class murram road.

When Stefan Kluge came to Uganda in 1989 to help with the rehabilitation of the tea industry in the western part of the country, he saw no better place to settle than in the shadows of the mountains of the moon.

In 1992, Mariam and Stefan Kluge, bought the 72-acre piece of land on which the guest farm sits today. It is surrounded by a papyrus swamp and a tropical rain forest, which is home to several families of black and white colubus and grey vervet monkeys.

Over the years, the ever-welcoming couple has developed the land into a farm and planted a big number of trees and flowers of various varieties, making this place so unique and colourful. Today, Kluge’s Guest Farm is a nature lover’s sight to behold.

Indeed, the intriguing combination of swamp, forest and open land makes the place attractive for a wide variety of birds thus making it an ideal place for birding. Species like the crested crane, sunbirds, hornbills, crows and the different coloured Turacos are a common sight here.

Apart from birding, guests can take nature walks in the vast forest, get a ride on a horse and/or decide to camp here. The camp site facilities are equipped with running hot and cold water, showers and flush toilets, so one should worry about a lizard falling on one’s head as nature’s call is being answered.

Campers may carry their own tents or use those at the guest farm. Visitors to this place also enjoy taking a dip in the swimming pool. The kids too have their own pool nearby where they splash under the watchful eye of their parents.

The restaurant, Gavamukulya, Luganda for “strength comes from food” has an a la carte menu with daily specials and if one has a special order, the chef will gladly serve the request.

The cuisine is farm-based with fresh milk from the farm, home-grown vegetables and freshly baked bread. I recommend the whole fish served with chips and a salad. 
Kabarole’s people have even discovered a secret in holding their wedding receptions in its plush gardens. Now you know - there is more to Fort Portal than just the beautiful town centre. 

HIV/Aids High in Kabarole District Secondary Schools.

The Kabarole district secretary for health and education Joshua Kagaba has said that the HIV prevalence among secondary schools in Kabarole district currently stands at 30%.

Kagaba told the New Vision on Thursday morning that a study by the district with the help of other Non-Governmental Organization shows that of every 1000 students at least over 250 are HIV positive.

He however blames the increase to the parent's negligence of their duties in the upbringing of an African child.

"Parents no longer perform their duties as heads of families where these children stay" said Kagaba. "They spend less time with them and have not bothered to advice or monitor the dressing code and movements of their children outside home" he added.

Kagaba stated that the prevalence is much higher among the female students a move he attributed to cross generational sex.

"The graph shows that the HIV is acquired from adult men that are above 40 years of age whereas most of the male students were born with it" Kagaba stated.

The district is now encouraging school heads to lobby for free HIV/AIDS testing and counseling in their schools to identify the affected students.

"We are encouraging formation of HIV clubs in all schools to identify, counsel and guild the students but let it (club) be given a selling name e.g. SAVING LIVES so that it can attract many students and to avoid stigma" Kagaba explained.

Speaking to the New Vision on phone Dr Hauser Mpugga the Kabarole district AIDs focal person said that his office has now embarked on a sensitization exercise that is to roll down to all schools in the district. "We want to avoid new infections by using the ABC control strategy" said Dr Mpugga.