Students lobby ministry to sack director over ethnic ideology

EASTERN PROVINCE NGOMA — Students of Kibungo Institute of Nursing and Midwifery in Ngoma district have petitioned the Ministry of Education to suspend their Deputy Director Assoumani Kiiza over alleged spreading of ethnic and genocide ideology. The students allege that Kiiza is spreading the ideology among students and community residents. The institute is headed by Amos Tang, a Nigerian national. In a letter dated April 3 2008, Kiiza is accused of conniving with other lecturers to give studens questionnaires containing content with Genocide ideology. This is allegedly during their industrial training. The accusing letter was signed by eight student association leaders. The said questionnaires were requiring students to ask people about their ethnic backgrounds and inclined political parties. The questionnaires were meant to be used in two sectors of Kirehe, Kirehe district and Mutenderi, Ngoma district. The letter of which The New Times has seen, was copied to the Minister of Health, the Director of Kibungo Hospital and the Director of the Institute. The students belonging to a student association called Kibungo Institute of Nursing and Midwife Students Association (KINMAS) resolved to file a petition to the Minister during their recent members’ meeting. The students argue that the contentious questionnaires did not reflect what is on their syllabus. They say the questions were different from those formerly sent by the Ministry of Health. They also say that the head of the vocational training told them that the questionnaires were sent by the Ministry of Health, something they didn’t believe. He gave us these papers and asked us to ask these questions which we were not comfortable with. We had moreover received the papers sent by the ministry but he added his questions of his choice. We see this as something against the government’s policy of unity and reconciliation, a student who talked on conditions of anonymity told The New Times. The letter which also pointed out a number of other issues, named some other lecturers as being involved in different scandals. There was one called Babona Antoine and another called Mwanaguru who was was said to be lacking the required qualifications. In a separate interview, a number of female students allege that their lecturers demand for sex from them in return for better grades. The students also claim that the institute’s administration charges them Frw1000 unfairly every month for health insurance even when they already have it for a whole year. Kiiza was formerly the head of a secondary school before it was later turned into an institute of nursing and midwifery. Jules Ngunbi a lecturer at the institute testified in the letter that Kiiza is known for causing strikes during his tenure as head teacher, clashing with staff and dismissing students he hated. Ends