KAMPALA, Uganda — A Kampala school director who allegedly orchestrated a fake Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) scheme in 2020 has been arrested after evading police for nearly two years.
Ivan Wafula, 34, director of Earnest Nursery and Primary School in Kisugu Parish, Makindye Division, is accused of duping pupils, parents, and secondary schools by issuing counterfeit Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) PLE results. Some students even used these fake results to enroll in secondary school.
According to Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson SSP Patrick Onyango, Wafula falsely claimed to have registered his P7 candidates for official PLE exams under Uneb. Instead, he allegedly took students to an unidentified location in Busia District, where they sat for unauthorized exams.
“After the fake exams, the pupils were brought back to Kampala, and the suspect issued them with forged results and recommendation letters, which they used to join different secondary schools,” Onyango said.
The scam was uncovered in 2024 when Ebenezer Secondary School administrators asked students for their original PLE results before registering for Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) exams. When the students returned to Earnest Nursery and Primary School, Wafula failed to produce authentic documents, prompting a police investigation.
Detectives confirmed that Earnest Nursery and Primary School had not registered any candidates with Uneb in 2020. Uneb verified that the submitted results and recommendation letters were forged.
Police tracked down Wafula after two years on the run, and he is now detained at Jinja Road Police Station, facing charges of forgery, uttering false documents, and obtaining money by false pretence.
“Such fraudulent practices not only cheat parents but also destroy the futures of innocent children. Those involved in education-related fraud will face the full force of the law,” Onyango said.
Authorities are investigating how many students were affected and whether there were additional accomplices involved in the scam. Parents are urged to verify their children’s exam registrations and results directly with Uneb to avoid falling victim to dishonest school proprietors.
