Mbarara high school suspends all S.4, S.6 students over violent clashes

Mbarara high school has suspended all S.4 and S.6 students following a violent fight between the two classes on Wednesday night. Police fired tear gas to stop the clashes between the learners from the two candidate classes.

A teacher said on condition of anonymity that the fight started when senior four students accused their senior six colleagues of assaulting their classmate. The fighting spilled into the neighbouring community.

One of the students said a senior four student attempted to bully a senior one student when he ordered him to fetch him water, which he refused to do - prompting him to beat him. He says that the deputy head boy tried to punish the senior four student for the bullying, a thing that didn't go down well with his classmates.

Ezekiel Emitu, the Rwizi Region police commander, says that police responded to a distress call from the public citing misconduct by the students who  had blocked the Mbarara-Bushenyi road and were looting merchandise from shops  

Samson Kasasira, the Rwizi Region police spokesperson, says that at least 11 senior four students sustained injuries during the fight. Ten of the students are admitted to Ruharo hospital and another at Homily hospital. Gidious Kareetwa, the Mbarara city inspector of schools blames the clashes on bullying, which isn't acceptable.