The head teacher of Old Kampala senior secondary school, Williams Ssuuna has blamed the police for failing to act in time to prevent students from taking part in a ‘smoking festival’.
Luke Owoyesigyire, the deputy Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson on Tuesday reported that Lubigi police conducted a raid on a house in Kibulooka, Nansana West Ward where they arrested 54 students following complaints from residents about excessive noise.
Owoyesigyire said the students including 8 girls were found in possession of various intoxicating substances including khat, shisha, alcohol, and other drugs. All 54 students possessed Old Kampala SS identification cards.
Owoyesigyire said that the students would face charges of drug possession and noise pollution. However, Ssuuna expressed his bewilderment at the timing of the police operation, saying he had expected them to prevent the event before based on the intel that he had provided. He also questioned the lack of concern from parents regarding their children’s whereabouts until they were apprehended by the police.
“Imagine a child is outside up to 11 pm and there’s no parent getting concerned. They only called us after they learned that their children were being held at Lubigi police station. The parents are again defending their children instead of condemning their actions. That reveals the kind of life the children are living in in their homes,” Ssuuna said.
Ssuuna emphasized that being a day school, the parents bear significant responsibility for their children’s actions outside of the school environment.
Ssuuna stated that not all of the arrested individuals were students from his school. He explained that only 30 of the 54 students arrested belonged to Old Kampala SS, while the remaining individuals were from undisclosed schools.
Ssuuna explained that the school had organized a promotional party for senior four and senior six candidates on Saturday last week. However, he received information that some students, along with their peers from other schools, had arranged an after-party in Nansana Kibulooka.
“I called the students and warned them not to participate in anything outside this school premises. I also alerted the police including giving them details of the venue as we had been tipped. But I don’t know why the police delayed to act,” Ssuuna said.
