Gov’t gives Shs5m to each family that lost a child in Salama School for the Blind fire

Government has today handed over the remains of students who got burnt in the fire that set ablaze Salama School for the Blind located in Kisoga – Mukono district.

It should be noted that parents of the 11 children who perished in the fire at the school were summoned to Naguru Police Forensics Department for DNA testing to be matched with the deceased’s who were burnt beyond recognition.

Joyce Moriku Kaducu, the State Minister for Primary education, who represented the Minister of Education, Janet Kataha Museveni, extended government support of Shs5 million to each family of the deceased to support the burial arrangement.

“On behalf of the ministry, I want to commit our total support to ensure this school once again is put back to normal. It’s our role and duty as the ministry of education to ensure we fully register this school as a boarding school,” she said.

While handing over the coffins labelled with images and names of the deceased, the minister confirmed that all the 11 bodies were rightfully matched with the DNAs of the parents.

“All these 11 bodies have been rightfully identified, using DNA tests with the relatives and we are now ready today to hand over to the relatives that have been rightfully identified so that they take the bodies for decent burial,” she said.

Ketty Lamaro, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Sports called upon parents not to abandon their children who are visually impaired. She asked them to take care of such children since it’s what God has provided them with.

The head teacher of Salama School for the Blind, Francis Kinubi, thanked the ministry of education, NGOs and security organs for their interception after the occurrence of the tragedy.

However, he requested police speed up their investigations and also strengthen precautionary measures in other schools to avoid such incidents from happening.

This incident comes at a time when cases of school fires had greatly reduced around the country.

According to the Uganda Police 2021 Annual Crime Report, a total of 1,258 fire emergencies were handled in 2021 compared to 1,015 in 2020 marking a 23.9% increase.