Commonwealth _Canada _ A Canadian non-profit helped build the Ugandan school where assailants slaughtered scores of pupils on Friday, according to the co-founder and former vice-president of the organization, who verified the information. According to Peter Hunt’s text message to CBC News on Sunday, the Partnerships for Opportunity Development Association (PODA), located in British Columbia, contributed to the school’s construction between 2010 and 2011. This confirms prior claims made by the education minister of Uganda and information from The New York Times.
According to his LinkedIn page, Hunt served as vice president of PODA until 2020. He also claims that he and Natalie Hunt, his partner, and the organization’s co-founder, resigned from the board of directors and “haven’t been involved for several years.” Founded in the early 2000s, PODA touts itself as a volunteer-run organization that generates money for and sends volunteers to initiatives in Africa targeted at development, according to its now-inaccessible website.
Hunt spoke to the residents of Mpondwe and the nearby town of Bwera when he remarked, “This was a… community-led project,” and he added that the initiative “included dairy goat programs, women’s initiatives, and honeybee-keeping.” No assets are held by any Canadians, he said, adding that the school is “owned and operated by the community.”
After militants stormed the school with weapons and machetes while others were shot or hacked to death, several pupils were charred beyond recognition in the attack. Authorities in Uganda think that at least six pupils have been kidnapped. The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), who seldom take credit for attacks, are held accountable for the assault.
The ADF has connections to the Islamic State organization, and it has been charged with carrying out several assaults recently that were directed at people in outlying areas of eastern Congo. Yoweri Museveni, the president of Uganda, condemned the attack in a statement on Sunday, calling it “criminal, desperate, terrorist, and futile,” and he vowed to send extra troops to the Ugandan side of the border.
