Busoga College Mwiri, one of Uganda’s oldest and most prestigious boys’ boarding schools, is marking a symbolic moment this Saturday, November 1, 2025. The school, established in 1911, will unveil a new main gate, a project fully financed through donations from its alumni.
It is a moment that should inspire pride. Yet, beneath the surface of celebration lies a sobering reality.
One commentator on social media said the gate is as tall as “Sarah,” a play on the common phrase used by Abraham Luzzi, a cantankerous candidate in Kampala.
Yet the academic standards of the school have steadily declined over the past two decades. Those who have visited the school will not help but notice that science laboratories and key facilities are in disrepair.
Most alarmingly, for the past two academic years, 2023 and 2024, not a single Mwiri student has qualified for government sponsorship at Makerere University, according to available records. This is a disaster for a school that produced prominent people like Dr Milton Obote, Dr Ruhakana Rugunda, Prof Barnabas Nawangwe, Francis Ayume, Nandala Mafabi, Andrew Mwenda, and Madoxx Ssematimba, to mention but a few.
We have been told that the newly constructed gate is a product of the Mwiri Old Boys Association (MOBA), which mobilised over Shs 117 million through a spirited fundraising campaign.
In fact, the alumni often shared progress updates and donation appeals on social media. They emphasised that the gate symbolises renewal and unity among former students determined to restore Mwiri’s lost glory.
Corporate bodies such as Uganda Baati have occasionally stepped in with support for renovations, but the needs remain far greater, including the replacement of ageing asbestos roofing.
The school’s leadership, under new headteacher Peter Sibukule, who assumed office in April 2024, insists that change is underway.
Appearing on UBC today, Sibukule said the reunion is about “awakening the sleeping giant” and “restoring academic excellence”. Yet, despite his optimism, tangible results are to match the rhetoric.
The new gate may stand tall, but the school’s academic ranking is troubling.
Indeed, on social media, some former students of the school have argued that spending millions of shillings on a gate was misplaced when laboratories, dormitories, and teachers’ quarters continue to crumble.
Tomorrow’s function is expected to feature speeches, symbolic handovers, and some merry-making as the OBs reminisce about the good old times.
Yet for Busoga College Mwiri to reclaim its place among Uganda’s academic elite, real investment must go into teachers, science facilities, student welfare, and academic standards.
