St. Charles Lwanga’s College Kalongo is the oldest and only government senior secondary school in Kalongo Town Council.
For several years the school has existed in harmony with its neighbours and squatters on its land, however, in march 2019 one of the families’ (of the late Kwenytino Okidi) who are reportedly sitting tenants within the said land was accused of further encroachment into the school land (about 14 acres inland) beyond the point that was temporarily okayed for their use and this matter is now before the Chief Magistrates Court at Patongo Court.
The court after consultations with both parties on the 30th/09/2021 recommended an amicable approach and therefore referred the matter for arbitration and appointed a mediator to listen to the two parties with the intent to help resolve the matter.
On the 4th /11/2021 the first mediation meeting was held under the Ojar tree a natural hardwood located within the St. Charles Lwanga’s School compound.
Background
St. Charles Lwanga’s College Kalongo is a mixed boarding and day school for O and A level students. It was founded in 1967 by Kalongo Catholic Mission under the Catholic diocese of Gulu the governing foundation body. In 1966 the technical school of Kalongo was transferred to Kitgum and this left the facility vacant necessitating the need for opening up a senior secondary school.
The then Archbishop Dr Cypriano Kihangire granted use of the building as a Parents O.Level Senior secondary school until later in 1976 when the community of Kalongo addressed the matter to His Excellency the President of Uganda Iddi Amin Dada their intention of having a subdistrict and a government school in Kalongo. This petition was positively considered by the president and Kalongo was among the 22 schools granted by the government. In 1989 St. Charles Lwanga’s college become an A-Level boarding mixed offering only Arts subjects.
As the school expanded, so did the mission and this prompted the mission to ask the school to get an alternative place to transfer to. In that year that the school was taken over by the government, there was a need to ask for a piece of land(Ownership of land was under the government following the 1975 Land decree) which and the ministry of Education was approached and this culminated into the final acquisition of the 1 sq. mile of land at Kalongo Tegot in 1980 where it is still currently located.
During the process of acquisition of the land, the ministry of land and natural resources through the secretary to the treasury ministry of Finance compensated the sitting tenants some of whom never claimed their compensation while some others did.
Between 1989 to 1996, the new site was developed enabling fully-fledged transfer and settlement that took place at the beginning of the 2nd term of 2001.
For several years the school has existed in harmony with its neighbours and squatters on its land, however, in march 2019 one of the families’ (of the late Kwenytino Okidi) who are reportedly sitting tenants within the said land was accused of further encroachment into the school land (about 14 acres inland) beyond the point that was temporarily okayed for their use and this matter is now before the Chief Magistrates Court at Patongo Court.
The court after consultations with both parties on the 30th/09/2021 recommended an amicable approach and therefore referred the matter for arbitration and henceforth appointed a mediator to listen to the two parties with intent to help resolve the matter.
On the 4th /11/2021 the first mediation meeting was held under the Ojar tree a natural hardwood located within the St. Charles Lwanga’s School compound. In attendance was the Chief mediator Mr Opwonya Michael, the lands Officer Mr. Ouma Constantino from the Catholic Diocese of Gulu, and the advocates from the plaintiff (St. Charles Lwanga Senior Secondary School) who is also the Gulu diocese lawyer Julius Ojok and his counterpart representing the defendants (Family of the late Okidi Kwenytino) Consul Jude Ojik. The LC II Chairperson Kubwor Parish Madam Poline Akongo and some of her committee members, the LC I Chairperson of Kubwor West Mr. Okidi Kwenytino (Grandson of Late Okidi Kwenytino Senior).
The Chairman Board of Governors Mr Alfredo Okello was the team leader of the plaintiff which were represented by current and former board members, the headteacher and some current staff as well as former teachers of the school, members of the Kalongo parish council all totalling 18 participants, and Mr Okello Akwilino the leader of the defendants’ team with about 30 participants.
The mediator urged both sides to show restraint and accommodate each other’s opinions even though they may not necessarily agree with them. He, however, pledged to guide the team to reach an amicable outcome that was in the best interest of both the school and the community.
He further said the arbitration approach is the best option for neighbour disputes as they both need each other and have to co-exist. This was also echoed by both advocates who recommended that this matter be resolved to avoid strained relationships and high costs associated with Land civil suits, they both said that their role is also to guide their clients to reach a common understanding.
The meeting which was supposed to have started at 10.00 am was delayed up to 1.30 pm as the defendants’ advocate could not make it on time due to a flat tire that had to be fixed and thus delayed their arrival. The meeting took place for two hours in which both sides made their submission unfortunately, time did not allow them to proceed with discussions on the way forward.
Both sides expressed the need for enough time to consider the issues carefully and therefore pledged to manage time better in the subsequent meeting. The meeting was adjourned at about 3.30 pm until Friday 12/11/2021 at 11.00 am.
The Kalongo Times is a news publication which celebrates progress and development in Kalongo town and the wider Deaconry (formally Kalongo Mission). The Deaconry encompasses present-day Agago, part of Pader, part of Kitgum and part of Abim.