Rakai District – Joseph Lubega Byekwaso, the headmaster of Lwensambya primary school has committed suicide after he was implicated in the alleged creation of ghost teachers and pupils, the Observer reports.
A post-mortem report compiled from Masaka hospital by Dr Herbert Kalema indicates that Lubega used a poisonous substance to end his life.
In Uganda, different offenders may not be given the same sentence for the same type of crime, as magistrates and judges look at the circumstances of each case and each offender.
For example, a harsher sentence may be given if it’s not an offender’s first offence. Or a reduced sentence may be given if the offender admits their guilt at an early stage.
For Joseph Lubega Byekwaso, death was a better option than jail.
Lubega committed suicide on Sunday, moments after he was granted police bond.
He had been arrested during an operation led by Rakai resident district commissioner (RDC) Charles Mubiru, district chairman Robert Benon Mugabi and Police on Thursday.
As the Observer further reports, the operation, aiming to weed ghost civil servants from the district, started on July 26th, 2016 and has so far netted 11 head teachers.
Mugabi says two ghost teachers had been recorded at Lwensambya primary school. The school also had a long list of non-existent pupils for which funding was drawn from the state under its universal primary education facilitation.
Lubega spent three days in detention prior to his release. However, his body was discovered this morning soaked in blood with cuts all over the neck.
Alex Ssemwogerere, the coordinator of Uganda National Teachers Union (UNATU) activities in Rakai district is reported to have said that Lubega was devastated over the brutal manner in which he was handled after his arrest.
Ssemwogerere alleges that the deceased was assaulted and ordered to refund all money spent on ghost teachers over the years. The body of the deceased has been handed over to the relatives in Kabira Sub County for burial.
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