Although Monday 31st Sept dawned like all other days of the calendar year, to the community of Namiryango Junior Boys’ School (NJBS) it was a day to go down in the history books of the school, and as such they accorded it the honour and dignity it deserved from dawn to dusk.
In a Rare turn of events, it was characterized by rejoicing and merry making by the learners, teachers and non-teaching staff alike, a marching procession through Seeta town to the tunes of the school’s brass band, and the day was crowned by a colourful thanksgiving mass sung by the school chaplain Rev. Fr. Edward Ibrahim Kafeero.
Preceded by ceremonial police in the lead, the learners, teachers and well-wishers of the school painted the town red, caused a temporary traffic jam, and the procession converged at the school’s Mother Kevin memorial hall for the thanksgiving mass.
The 13-year-old Chief, Victor Austin Kiyaga of Primary Six had hoisted the school’s banner sky high when he emerged first runner-up in the coveted annual Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Writing Competition held in the second term of this academic year.
As history would have it, Kiyaga followed in the footsteps of an earlier similar feat by the school’s Ethan Charles Mufuma who in 2021, lifted the prestigious event, as the first African to win in the oldest annual competition which began in 1883 in Commonwealth countries.
As part of the winner’s package, Master Kiyaga, accompanied by one of his parents and a teacher, will represent not only NJBS, or Uganda for that matter, but the entire African continent in a meeting dubbed the Winners’ Week to run between 18th and 21st November this year in London, UK.
This year’s competition attracted 34,939 entries from all the Commonwealth regions and young Kiyaga convinced the panel of judges drawn from world’s prominent literacy figures that he emerged second after Malaysia’s Erynn Liew (13) from Puchong.
Writing has been Erynn’s vigorous passion ever since she was given a travel journal at the arly age of four. She loved capturing her travels on paper and pencil, describing every detail with words and doodling them.
Kiyaga, a son of Paul Kiyaga and Harriet Nakitende of Lugazi Municipality in Buikwe district, is the first born in the family of four children.
In an interview with Kyaggwe TV, he said;
“I strongly feel that not enough has been done by the authorities in fighting environmental degradation, and I will advise the President of Uganda, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni to forthwith ban use of ‘buveera’ (polythene bags).”
Kiyaga said that his winning poem is titled, ‘Whispers from Nazawa’ depicting an imaginary beach with inhabitants, sea creatures and weeds, complaining over rampant abuse of their home by humankind, placing their continued existence in balance.
His idea he said was to tickle stakeholders to the need to focus on unchecked pollution of water bodies and general abuse of the environment, and pledged to take the matter higher up with President Museveni when he returns from the UK meeting.
‘I strongly believe that not enough has been done by authorities in fighting environmental degradation, and I will advise the President to forthwith ban use of ‘buveera’ (polythene material)’, he said.
NJBS headteacher, Rev. Sr. Leticia Nabukalu who was beaming with joy, attributed the school’s now traditional victory to the fact that the school lays great emphasis on teaching their learners grass root literacy right from primary one.
Sr. Nabukalu thanked the organisers for the far sightedness to offer an opportunity to all learners in Commonwealth countries to freely and in a just manner participate by making the competition accessible online.
She appealed to teachers in other schools in future to pick interest in the event, reasoning that being an international event, it exposes to learners an opportunity to interact with the colleagues from other countries and continents, and in effect widen their learning base.
And this time round, it was a double victory for the school as another learner Ngabonzira Golooba of Primary Seven emerged in third position in the inter-school Mathematics competition.
Moses Kibuuka the chairman of NJBS Media Club hailed Kiyaga for making them proud through his victory, and added that as a school, they have always targeted building originality in their learners’ production.
Kiyaga’s parents, Paul Kiyaga and Harriet Nakitende, his aunt Gladys Acheng, grandfather Christopher Serunjogi and other family members all of Namengo-Kiteredde in Lugazi Municipality, Buikwe district, were all joy when our reporters visited them over their boy’s rare feat.
