Primary School Director Arrested over Forged PLE Results after 2-Year Manhunt

Police in Kampala have arrested Wafula Ivan, the director of Earnest Nursery and Primary School in Kisugu Parish, Makindye Division, after he allegedly forged Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) results for his pupils and went into hiding for two years.

According to police investigations, Wafula, 34, reportedly registered his school’s Primary Seven candidates in 2020 and later transported them to an unknown location in Busia District to sit what he claimed were official PLE exams. The exams, however, were not administered by the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB).

After the alleged exams, the pupils were brought back to Kampala, where Wafula reportedly handed over forged results and recommendation letters to their parents. The children are said to have used the fake documents to join various secondary schools across the country.

The forgery came to light in 2024, when Ebenezer Secondary School asked some of the affected students to present their original PLE result slips for registration to sit the Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) examinations.

“We asked four students who were due to sit for their Senior Four exams to provide their PLE result slips. When we checked them on the UNEB system, we discovered they belonged to other people. We involved the police, and it turned out the slips were fake, so we couldn’t register the students,” said John Pamba, Deputy Head Teacher of Ebenezer Secondary School.

When the students returned to Earnest Nursery and Primary School to collect the slips, the proprietor failed to produce them, prompting a police report.

Police launched investigations and discovered that the exams the candidates sat for were not the official 2020 PLE papers. Checks with Nanyuma Primary School—the supposed examination center—confirmed that no candidates from Earnest Nursery and Primary School were registered there that year.

Investigators later recovered the forged result slips and recommendation letters, which were submitted to UNEB for verification. The examination body confirmed that the documents were fake.

Wafula had been on the run for two years but was arrested yesterday. Police say inquiries into the matter are still ongoing.

Kampala Metropolitan Police spokespersons say more details will be released as the investigation progresses, including the number of affected students and potential accomplices.