Police have revealed that a Senior Three student at Nakasero Secondary School allegedly deliberately set a mattress on fire in a girls’ dormitory, leading to a blaze that destroyed property and affected dozens of learners.
Police spokesperson Kituuma Rusoke said investigators reached the conclusion after reviewing CCTV footage recorded at the school during the September 28, 2026 incident.
“On September 28th, we had a fire at Nakasero Secondary School. Investigators received CCTV footage and went through it. They discovered that a Senior 3 student set a mattress on fire,” Rusoke said.
He further alleged that the student locked the school matron inside a room during the incident. According to Rusoke, investigations also established that the student had bought a matchbox specifically to carry out the act.
Rusoke said police subsequently took the student to court over the incident. The allegations will be handled through the legal process, where the circumstances surrounding the fire can be examined.
The fire gutted a girls’ dormitory and directly affected 74 Senior Four students. Authorities said no lives were lost because the learners had already left the dormitory for classes when the fire broke out.
The Uganda Red Cross Society sent responders to the school to assess the damage and identify the immediate needs of the affected students. Three learners reportedly fainted due to shock and received first aid, while the humanitarian agency also provided psychological first aid.
The assessment identified mattresses, blankets, mosquito nets, hygiene supplies and continued psychosocial support as some of the urgent needs. The Red Cross also noted that other students were indirectly affected by the incident, highlighting the wider impact of the dormitory fire on the school community.
