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This is really sad from my junior alma matta

sincere condolences to all families touched by this inexplicably sad and tragic loss of life - female young lives snuffed out  

Here is an article by MSNBC

 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24122206/from/ET/

Tragic, tragic kitalo nyo!!! May God be with the families of the fallen kids.

"The mystery of two unkown adults should be solved"

Herbert Ssempogo & Esther published an article in NV  which also provides a table of recent fires that have befallen schools in recent years.  The thing that comes to mind at this raw tragedy once the emotions ease off is to question who is taking responsibility over this tragedy.  This is not to be seen as a witch-hunt but rather to set precedence on how such occurences should not only be prevented, but also to perhaps address areas which are not yet being seen to.

One thing I am puzzled with in all this pain is how it comes about that the table published in the NV paper can give a list totaling 15 schools which have met with fires, yet no accountability is taken up by anyone.  Without knowing if there were health and safety proceedures in place in these schools, let alone whether fire drills for students exist and if so when they last had them, or if any of the dormitories or buildings which host people have fire officers to know how to respond should such a situation arise.  These are simple proceedures which ought to be in place by any institution especially one that serves people.  Having served as school governor, I'd find it hard to understand how any of my counterparts in these schools could fail to pursue investigations which would best serve to strengthen the security and safety of the pupils it serves. 

Let the lives of these pupils as well as those in other fires not become just another historical statistic - set the wheels in motion of accountability by those in posts to uphold their responsibilities in integrity and honour.  Whilst its commendable that one of the school representative is calling for calm - I would be more inclined to request a public acknowledgement to the parents especially of responsibility in all that transpired and for the school to ensure they set up an enquiry which can not only be supportive to the parents and teachers but be truthful and respectful.

I am deeply touched by this and very angry that it has had to come to this before lessons are learnt.  I pray for all those affected to have strength to sustain them through the years to come.   

Any funds being considered to redress what has occured should also perhaps aim to redress the cause of this latest incident...

It's scary this, my son went to that school. The lack of accountability is indeed killing our people in more ways than those in charge care to admit. I hope that following this sad sad occurence someone at the Ministry of education will take some ctio to ensure that this does not happen again

The problem affecting the people today is lack of standards and safety. Much as the government is doing a great deal in supporting education but less is done in matters regarding reliability and safety.

Buildings are collapsing, and here we are 19 leaders, doctors, engineers, managers etc of tomorrow were lost whereby the cause of the fire is yet to be known. It's high time that fire extinguishers, surveillance cameras, emergency exits have to be installed and should be in place in case of boarding schools. An automatic process which opens emergency doors in case of fire detection by sensors isn't that expensive provided a human is involved.

Soreel:

Here is an article by MSNBC

 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24122206/from/ET/

UGANDAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Oh my God ! How can this have been done on the young and innocent children??????

Have pipo lost sense of value of life or of innocent life?

Iam sad angry and ashamed of what iam reading here that ts the kids dead and the big loss for the parents the school and the nation?

Kaleeeee, Katonda gyali!!

 The President knows whodunnit:

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/12/622718

kakokoolo:

 The President knows whodunnit:

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/12/622718

 

I'm amazed!, whats wrong with the Ugandan Police? What's the truth, who are those 2 bodies of strangers they found? The police said they were already in the motuary before the burnt remains of kids were taken there, and now the school authorities are stressing that bodies of 2 unknown guys were recovered from the ruins.

Kyoka banange eno ensi yaffe!!!!!

So the President knows who dunnit eh?  Case closed, no need for further investigations rite?  Judge & jury is by order of President!  You know what P - "...eno ensi yaffe!!!!!" just abouts sums up the whole disorganised state of affairs.  Mind you I had to do a double take over the typo-error in which the police is said "to death" with anyone found to be spreading all sorts of stories about the incident of the two male corpses.

What the heck has been done to ensure fire safety regulations in institutions be them schools/hospitals/colleges etc within the country is implemented or even a regulatory body set up to give back feedback as should be the case right now?   

The administration at Budo is coming under scrutiny right now, and this is by all means the way to go, and perhaps we may also get down to the bottom of what really was behind this fire. 

However - why has it taken this incident to arise to get NGO's, the President, ministers, army, top police officials you name it, to camp out and carry out their own "interrogations" on site or otherwise.  Why was this type of arson in previous incidents before never been given attention so as to prevent something like this ever having to be met by those now in pain?  Are the fire incidents in previous months or years to be discounted for whatever reasons?

Could the simple truth just be as already stated - life is meaningless in Uganda; unless you are a child of a well-to-do or other socially high placed individual.

• We all have a duty to serve and protect those who are vulnerable and young - accountability should not just be left to the adminstration of the school but also:-
• by the parents who insist on pushing to get their kids into an already over-subscribed institution, yet do not take time out to look at the environment they are placing their children into but are hanging on to held perceptions of referencing to prestige foremost.
• board of governors to the school who may turn a blind eye to practices which are not in tune with the education or well-being of the pupils
• local government (ministry for education & sport) which reports directly or indirectly to the President but fails to ensure that whatever rules and regulations are passed in parliament or courts of law governing institutions are not upheld appropriately or accordingly.

All of the above have a case to answer to what has been played out.  Its not good enough to just point fingers at the guards, the matron, the headmaster - the "community" which was supposed to support the education of these children failed them in delivering a service in a safe environment and these are very painful lessons which all of us have to face and learn from.

Babes, It is shocking that such things are alllowed to ahppen and I think you have hit the nail on the head " no value is placed on people's life" and waht that life happens to be that of young children, hwo can we make sense of it. My son went to that school! i cna't imagine the anguish and despair the parents of thsoe chidlren are going through right now

Someone here in the UK has taken steps to get the London fire brigade to look into how it can be of assistance to the Uganda fire services.  This is a native of Uganda who has had to initiate such action - as before, I'm yet to hear anybody from the the Ug High Commission here or anywhere else for that matter seeking assistance where obviously they are finding challenges.  Which still brings me to ask the question of accountability in the Ugandan system of governance. 

Nobody in the ministry is taking accountability for such a failure to deliver a service in an area where human rights have been badly disregarded - this is not the first serious fire to occur in such a short period. Are we to witness another fire in another institution i.e prison, hospital, office etc before we get another media commotion?

Investigating the culprits or the administration of the current school shouldn't be the only area - something is seriously wrong with the ministries.  Its even more worrying when a top government minister is quoted to be blaise when questioned about the risks of allowing so many gas(petrol) stations in and around the densely populated areas of Kampala by simply responding when asked if there'd been any safety pertaining to response should a fire breakout by saying "had there been any fire so far?".  simply beggars belief!!!

Where education is being fronted as one of the factors to fight poverty in developing countries, the environment in which this education is being brought about are not being regulated.  If I may say - could the UN Convention on the Rights of a Child not come into question here against the Ugandan government?

 Mamerito Mugerwa (Mayor of Kira Town Council) was hosted recently at a local FM station and wot he said about the Buddo fire left me wondering wot kinda guys r in charge of this country. He announced that forthwith, no school dormitory in his area of juridistiction will be built with burglar proofing bars in its windows. In otherwords, his priority is not in fire prevention but ensuring the pupils have a route of escape when (and not if) their dormitories catch fire!! He also ignored the fact that this now exposes the innocent pupils to danger from outside the dormitory.

 This guy has a history of being out of touch with what's going on. Have a look:

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/459/610869?highlight&q=mamerito

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/9/579/610300?highlight&q=mamerito 

Well, fellow embozists, it would appear that those in charge are neither interested nor inclined to be in charge in a meaningful and beneficial way

Please don't take the silence that I have for this tragedy as a sign that I don't care.  There is nothing to say about this.  This is a part of a larger system that is broke.  If something is broke you fix it, you don't talk about fixing it and then wait till it happens next time and have an inquiry on why nothing was done and where the money went.  Roll up the sleves of your shirt and get your hands dirty fixing the system.  The larger system is called infrustructure.  Lack of clean water, Lack of electric power, Lack of toilets, Lack of Jobs, Lack of food, Lack of education and finally lack of caring for each other.  For those of you that have the chance on elections, elect people based on what they have done and not what they talk about doing.  Officials that are there for the people aren't rallying them and handing out party cards.  They are helping others, if your power is out and you ask them to help, they call Umme (sp) and find out what was the problem.  They are the ones that give some money so that the poor can buy sugar.  They are the ones that come to your house to talk while taking tea to find out what you think.  Elect people based off of character and not their status in soceity.  And once they are elected, hold them accountable.  If they are the member of a party, even hold the party accountable.

  Doing the same activity and expecting a different result is call insanity. 

This is a real tragidy, I'm so sorry the loss of young lives.  Kaks if the put burglar profing bars, they should teach the children how to open them and get out.  I think a nice concrete wall around the school with the watch men should do fine.  How about improving security throughout the country; so people can go to sleep without burglar proofing their homes.  How come the doors to the dorms were locked from the outside.  Shouldn't there been a matron in that dorm to keep the kids safe?

Again my prayers are with the families.