St Mary SS Director Arrested for Allegedly Issuing Fake UNEB Exam Results to Student

Police in Mbale City are holding Francis Owino, the Director of St. Mary’s Secondary School in Mbale district for allegedly distributing fabricated Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) and Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) results to students.

Police are also hunting for two other co-directors of the same school on similar allegations. Owino was arrested on Friday after a concerned parent reported to police that the suspect demanded one million Ugandan Shillings in exchange for genuine results.

Owino’s woes started after he dished out fake results, allegedly from Uganda National Examination’s Board to 85 senior four and 16 senior six candidates from St. Mary’s Secondary School who had sat for the UNEB Examinations in 2022.

Owino falsified the results after the school failed to raise examination fees for learners to UNEB, prompting the exam body to withhold the results to date. Frustrated parents claim that Owino asked them to pay an extra 50,000 Ugandan Shillings, alleging that it was meant to repay a money lender from whom he had borrowed funds to pay UNEB for the results.

They also claim that they heard rumours circulating and some have since visited UNEB offices to ascertain the facts, only to be informed that the school’s results had never been officially released.

Parents and affected students now want the Ministry of Education and Minister Janet Museveni to help resolve the issue and secure genuine results, allowing the students to continue their education. They expressed frustration at the financial investments they had made in attempting to obtain these results, which had proved futile.

These students subsequently gained admission to various tertiary institutions based on these fraudulent results, putting their academic pursuits in jeopardy.

The Elgon Region Police Spokesperson, Rogers Taitika, confirmed Owino’s arrest and stated that the police are actively searching for the other two school directors involved in the case.