By Denis Jjuuko
Old students and well-wishers of Kings College Buddo over the weekend raised an impressive Shs888,932,575 as part of the fundraising campaign to build a Shs14 billion chapel at their hilly campus west of Kampala according to newspaper reports. The proposed 3,000-seat chapel will replace one built in 1921 and expanded in 1959 to cater for the current 2,600-student population.
The figures mentioned are impressive and the school’s alumni and well-wishers are of who is who in Uganda and elsewhere, after all, they have been a school for the elite since its founding nearly 120 years ago. But the figures also speak about the stagnation of Uganda’s development. Outside the slanted canopy at the school’s entrance is a sea of poverty, one can easily view downwards form the hilltops on which the school is built. That people sat and fundraised for a Shs14 billion chapel speaks volumes about priorities.
Would an elite school in Europe, where Christianity originated, spend that kind of money on a church today? Perhaps but I highly doubt. They would most likely maintain the existing church given its heritage and historical significance and use the money on something else. But we are in Africa, religion is a non-negotiable for many stakeholders. I somewhat understand why they want a new chapel.
However, with the same amount of money what would Kings College Buddo do? (By the way I know that the school prefers to spell their name incorrectly as Budo.) The money is enough to create an endowment fund that would be the rival of many schools in Africa. The endowment fund would still enable building of the chapel, albeit a not-too-fancy one but one that still meets the purpose.
How would this be achieved? If the school invested Shs14b in a 15-year treasury bond at the current interest rates and discounts, they would be able to get at least 14% in net returns and probably a 10-15% discount when investing. However, because discounts are not always guaranteed, we shall only use the interest. At 14% net of taxes, the school would be able to earn Shs1.96b annually. If they re-invest this money and all the coupon payments for another two years, they would be able to earn more than Shs6 billion, which they would now splash on the chapel. I believe a chapel of Shs6b would still cater for Buddo’s needs. It would be fancy to a great extent and furnished with beautiful pews, stained glass and powerful public address systems.
The Shs1.96b interest income annually would mean that they don’t necessarily have to fundraise again for their projects. However, well-wishers could still be able to donate as they see fit. There is a difference between holding fundraising dinners all the time and people approaching you to donate. When they want a fancy dormitory or multipurpose hall, they would still be able to build one or two using their endowment profits. By the way, wouldn’t a multipurpose hall or arena serve as a chapel?
Since one can see a lot of poverty from the Buddo hilltops, the school would be able to offer fully paid scholarships to kids from the community who are bright but can’t afford the school’s fees. And in cases where such students aren’t admitted to university on government sponsorships, the school’s endowment fund would still cater for their fees. Actually, this would eventually build a network of future donors who would be able to further enrich the school’s endowment fund.
Most of Uganda’s elite schools that were started during the colonial days have remained very small. They have focused on exclusivity in the era of inclusivity where they could have been able to admit more bright students had they had the required infrastructure. But to do anything including the ugly gate canopies that now adorn their entrances, they turn to the same old fundraising methods instead of creating endowment funds.
With an endowment fund, they would be able to expand and build extra campuses or purchase more land for expansion. Private schools using borrowed money from commercial banks have been able to expand. Without fundraising, government aided elite schools without marketing expenses can only afford a pickup truck for the headteacher. They know the old students wouldn’t fundraise for the pickup, so they buy that and beg for any other thing.
The endowment fund could also enable schools to pay their teachers and non-teaching staff better and free them from the moonlighting that many of them engage in. Better pay would attract the brightest students back into the classrooms as teachers as was the case many years ago. Better teachers would lead to better learning outcomes for the learners.
Endowment funds could build chapels and make government aided schools more sustainable.
The writer is a communication and visibility consultant. djjuuko@gmail.com
