The High Court in Kabale has ordered Bishop Asili Nursery Day and Boarding Primary School to pay Shs25 million in general damages to Tadeo Ruzindantaro for the unauthorized release and disappearance of his daughter.
The ruling stems from a 2018 incident in which the school allegedly handed over Ruzindantaro’s four-year-old daughter to his estranged wife, Mercy Kirande, without his consent. Ruzindantaro claimed the school’s head teacher, Sister Margaret Tusiime, colluded with Kirande to remove the child from school and facilitate her departure from Uganda.
Court records show that Ruzindantaro and Kirande separated in 2010 after marrying in 2003. Following the separation, Kirande left the country, leaving the child in her father’s care. Years later, Ruzindantaro’s current wife, Innocent Tukamushaba, was informed by school staff that the child had been taken to South Africa by Kirande, allegedly with the head teacher’s involvement.
Ruzindantaro filed a civil suit after reporting the case to Kabale Police, citing emotional and psychological distress.
However, investigations later revealed that the child had never left the country. Instead, she was taken by Phionah Rukundo, a close friend of Kirande, and hidden at her home in Kampala. A report by Kabale District Senior Probation and Social Welfare Officer, Monica Muhumuza Nzeirwe, stated the child was kept for five years due to alleged mistreatment and neglect by Ruzindantaro and his wife. The report also cited struggles with school fees and basic necessities.
In court, however, the child contradicted those claims, testifying that she was taken without her father’s knowledge and had no contact with him until their reunion in 2023. She confirmed that her father had always supported her education and denied any mistreatment. She now lives with him and attends Immaculate Heart Girls School in Rukungiri District.
In his judgment, Justice Karoli Lwanga Ssemogerere held the school accountable for violating the Children Act, which protects the welfare and rights of children. He said the school breached its duty by releasing the child without the custodial parent’s approval. The failure of Rukundo to appear in court further weakened the school’s defense.
Justice Ssemogerere concluded that the school’s negligence caused significant emotional harm to the father. He ordered the school to compensate Ruzindantaro with Shs25 million and cover half of his legal costs.
