Arwotcek residents demand answers over missing UGX 3.5 billion seed school

20 October 2026, 6:05 pm

By Sarah Ejang

Community leaders and residents of Arwotcek Sub-county are demanding accountability following the demolition of their existing community school to make way for a government seed school that has never been constructed.

The demand followed an emotional stakeholder meeting held on Sunday, 18 October, attended by school board members, the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), School Management Committees, local leaders and district technical officials.

Residents said Arwotcek Seed School had been fully registered, staffed and operating in temporary classroom blocks. The community had also contributed approximately UGX 11 million towards establishing the school.

However, they said they were later persuaded to surrender Arwotcek’s Uganda Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfers (UGIFT) school allocation to neighbouring Agikdak Sub-county.

In return, they were promised a larger seed school facility estimated to cost UGX 3.5 billion.

The existing structures were subsequently demolished to make way for the proposed project. However, the promised facility was never constructed.

Residents say there is now no physical trace of the school, leaving them feeling deceived and abandoned.

“We were told that a bigger and better school would be built here, but instead our children were left without any school at all,” residents said during the meeting.

Students from Arwotcek are now forced to travel more than 20 kilometres to Awelo or Aputi to access secondary education.

Parents described the costs of transport and accommodation as unsustainable, particularly for families already struggling with poverty.

The meeting ended with a resolution to write to the Resident District Commissioner (RDC), requesting an urgent investigation into the stalled project.

Residents want the RDC to summon the Chief Administrative Officer, current and former district chairpersons, current Members of Parliament and officials from the education department to explain what happened to the allocation and the proposed seed school.

Community leaders hope the process will produce a clear plan for reopening the school by February 2027.

Although visiting officials urged residents to remain patient, arguing that government projects can take time to complete, the community maintained that the absence of a secondary school had created an immediate educational crisis.

The meeting was marked by anger and tears, with residents expressing frustration over what they described as years of broken promises.

The discussions also highlighted the deep poverty affecting households in Arwotcek.