Police in Kisoro District have arrested two teachers in separate incidents over alleged examination malpractice during the ongoing Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE).
The suspects are accused of leaking examination papers and answers through WhatsApp messages before the official exam time.
According to Kigezi Regional Police Spokesperson ASP Elly Maate, the suspects have been identified as Mr Michael Begumisa (38), a teacher at Kashenyi Integrated School in Ntungamo District, and Mr Jonas Twesiime (30), a teacher in Kisoro Municipality.
In the first incident, Mr Begumisa, who was deployed as a UNEB scout at St. Allens Primary School in Kisoro, was caught with a suspected PLE Science paper and its answers on his smartphone.
He was intercepted by Mr Asizua Gordon Okua, a Senior Inspector of Schools from the Directorate of Education Standards and a UNEB monitor in Kisoro District.
‘During his routine inspection, Mr. Asizua found the UNEB scout behaving suspiciously. Upon checking his phone, he discovered a Science paper with answers that had been sent two hours before the official exam time,’ Mr Maate said.
Police were immediately notified, and the suspect was arrested. His phone was recovered and kept as an exhibit for further investigation.
In a separate incident, Mr Twesiime, who was serving as the Chief Invigilator at Reads Primary School in Kisoro, was also arrested after being found in possession of the 2025 PLE English paper two hours before the scheduled start of the exam.
According to police, the case was reported by Ms Mildred Tumukwasibwe, a UNEB Chief Invigilator, who became suspicious when she was denied entry at the school gate despite identifying herself as a UNEB official.
‘She insisted on accessing the centre, and upon checking the invigilator’s phone, she found the English paper already downloaded on WhatsApp. It was shocking,’ Mr. Maate said.
Police investigations later revealed that the same phone contained copies of earlier PLE papers, including Mathematics and Social Studies (SST).
Mr Maate confirmed that the suspects’ smartphones have been sent to the Forensic Services Directorate in Naguru for digital analysis to determine the source of the examination leaks.
‘We shall not tolerate any form of examination malpractice,’ he warned. ‘Those involved will face the full force of the law. Police will continue working with UNEB to protect the credibility of national examinations.’
Both suspects remain in police custody as investigations continue.
On Monday, police also arrested Mr. Bernard Katabire (41), a teacher at Real Quality Primary School, and Mr Samuel Baker Munyantari (52), the Head Teacher at Seseme Primary School, after they were found with photocopied answer sheets containing solutions to Mathematics questions 31 and 32 at Seseme Primary School in Kisoro Municipality.