Ggaba church to demolish day care building after stabbing tragedy

Ggaba Community Church has said it will demolish the old building that housed its Early Childhood Development Programme and turn the site into a memorial garden for the four toddlers who were stabbed to death there last week. 

The announcement was made by the church’s senior pastor, Peter Kasirivu, during a special memorial service held on Easter Monday for the slain children. 

Kasirivu said the centre has served the community for 27 years and was never set up as a formal school. 

He explained that it began as a feeding programme supported by Compassion International before growing into a child care centre for babies aged between zero and three years. 

According to him, more than 1,000 children have passed through the facility over the years. 

Recently, however, Kasirivu said the church had grown concerned about the age of the building and had started raising money for a replacement structure.

“So we started a campaign to raise money to put up a better building. We have so far raised Shs 200million out of the 800 million needed for the new structure,” he said

“I ask all of you to continue praying for us and those who can, to support us”

As such, Kasirivu said the church would not allow children to return to the old structure where the tragedy took place. 

“In the next few months, before we construct the new building, we are going to demolish it and build a memorial for these kids there. There will be a garden so that this becomes a memory for these beautiful souls,” he said. 

The memorial came days after a man identified by police as Christopher Okello Onyum allegedly entered the Ggaba Early Childhood Development Centre on Thursday, April 2, 2026, posing as a parent seeking admission, before attacking children inside the premises. 

Police said four toddlers were killed in the assault, which sent shockwaves across the country. The victims were identified as Gideon Eteku, Alungat Kaise, Ignatius Sserwange and Ryan Odeke. 

The tragedy prompted an immediate response from government. On Friday, April 3, 2026, State Minister for Higher Education Dr John Chrysostom Muyingo ordered the closure of the daycare centre and its sister schools as investigations continued. 

The memorial service on Monday, April 6, 2026, attended by leaders and grieving families, marked another painful step in the community’s effort to mourn the children and seek healing after one of Kampala’s most disturbing attacks on a child care centre.