AboutKOSA
Kakoma Old Students Association is the alumni body of Kakoma Senior Secondary School, Rakai District: one register, one welfare desk, and one fund for the students who come after us.
Female Acholi Dancers by Bettycath · CC BY-SA 4.0
Who it is for
If you sat in a Kakoma classroom, this register is yours. It does not ask which year you left in, which stream you were in, or whether anyone from your class is still in touch with you. It asks for one thing: the year you finished, so your cohort can find you.
Membership is not a reward for a career. A member who left last year and a member who left fifty years ago hold the same place on the register, and the same right to ask the welfare desk for help.
Every year group
From the earliest cohort on the register to the class that left last year, each graduation year gathers in one place.
Every trade and every town
The register records the year, not the rank. Wherever a member has ended up, the cohort is the thing that is shared.
The students still there
The welfare desk and the bursary fund exist for the families and students behind every cohort, whether or not they have a member in their own house.
The photographs
KOSA has not supplied photographs of its own yet. Until it does, these pages use openly licensed pictures of Gulu and Acholi life, credited with the photographer and the licence wherever they appear.
None of them is presented as a KOSA event, and none is an illustration standing in for a photograph. When the association sends its own pictures, they replace these.
Our motto
United by Our Past, Committed to Our Future.
The past is the part we already share: the same classrooms, the same teachers, the same walk in. The future is the part that needs organising, which is what the register, the welfare desk and the bursary fund are for.
Vision and mission
Vision
A united and empowered community of Kakoma Old Students contributing to the sustainable development of our members, our school and society.
Mission
To unite, connect and mobilise Kakoma Old Students to support one another, strengthen our school, nurture professional and personal growth, and contribute positively to community development.
Core values
Unity
One body across every year of completion.
Integrity
Members' money and decisions are on the record.
Service
Time and skill given back to the school.
Excellence
Standards held high in what the association funds.
Solidarity
Members stand with each other in difficulty.
Our objectives
As published by the association — the ten things KOSA exists to do, from welfare and mentorship to governance and the school’s own development.
- Promote unity and networking among all Kakoma Old Students, regardless of their year of completion or location.
- Support Kakoma Senior Secondary School through fundraising, mentorship, infrastructure development, academic support and other initiatives that enhance the school's growth.
- Promote professional and personal development through mentorship, skills development, career guidance, knowledge sharing and networking opportunities.
- Establish a strong welfare and solidarity system to support members during important life events and times of need.
- Mobilise resources and partnerships to finance sustainable projects benefiting KOSA members, the school and surrounding communities.
- Encourage entrepreneurship and economic empowerment among members through business networking, investment opportunities, training and access to relevant information.
- Promote leadership, integrity and responsible citizenship by encouraging members to use their knowledge, skills and experience to serve society.
- Preserve the heritage and values of Kakoma Senior Secondary School while strengthening the relationship between the school, current students and former students.
- Encourage mentorship of current students by connecting them with successful Old Students who can provide career, academic and life guidance.
- Build a vibrant and sustainable association with transparent leadership, effective governance, strong membership participation and accountable financial management.
What it does
Five strands, all of them run from the same register. Each is administered in the member portal, so nothing depends on who happens to be at the end of a telephone.
The register
A verified list of old students by graduation year. It lets a class find itself, and it lets the executive reach a cohort without a chain of phone calls.
Welfare
A member facing bereavement, a medical bill or sudden hardship applies to the welfare desk. Requests are confidential and every decision carries a written note.
Bursaries
Termly support for students whose families cannot meet the cost: fees, uniforms and examination registration, agreed by the committee each term.
Projects
Works the members agree to fund together, such as the ICT room and the market drainage, each with a named owner and a written handover.
Mentorship
Senior members volunteer their time for clinics and one-to-one conversations about courses, interviews and first jobs.
One account holds all five.
See what membership opens
How it is run
Four roles do the work between meetings. Who holds them changes; what each one is responsible for does not.
The executive
Elected by the members. It sets the year's priorities, agrees how the welfare fund and the bursary fund are divided, and answers for both at the annual meeting.
The membership officer
Reads every application, checks the graduation year against the cohort record, and approves, returns or declines it with a note the applicant can read.
The event managers
Publish dates, venues and capacities, keep the RSVP lists, and close registration when a room is full rather than turning people away at the door.
The treasurer
Records each contribution against the member who made it and holds the fund's statements for the annual report.
No names appear on this page. Committee members are real people, chosen by the association’s own process, and this build does not invent them. Applications, welfare decisions, contributions and changes of role are written to an audit log the executive can read.
A short history
The association has not published its own minutes to this build. The milestones below are taken from the demo project record, in the order the projects appear there, and they stand in for a history that only the association can write.
1998
Bursary fund
Running
Termly fees, uniforms and examination registration for students whose families cannot meet the cost.
2004
Welfare desk
Running
Members facing bereavement, medical costs or sudden hardship apply to the welfare desk; the committee decides and records every decision.
2019
Market drainage
Completed
Channels and covers at the market entrance, handed over to the traders' association with a written maintenance agreement.
2022
ICT room
Running
Refurbished computer room, power stabilisers and a stock of refurbished machines for the school's practical lessons.
2023
Girls' kit drive
Running
Reusable sanitary kits and a term's supply of soap, delivered through the school's senior woman teacher.
2027
Alumni hall roof
Planned
Re-roofing the meeting hall so events can run through the rainy season. Planned, not yet funded.
Take your place
Membership is open to anyone who attended Kakoma. It takes an account, a verified email address and one application.
Gulu Town Skyline 01 by Alemeneghini · CC BY-SA 4.0
Gulu Market by Erinamukuta · CC BY-SA 4.0
Women Sitted under an Elephant Statue in a Market Entrance, Gulu by Chapelle musa · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photographs of Gulu and Acholi life from Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0 / CC0). They show the world around KOSA, not the association itself.