A HEADMASTER with St Phillip’s Mukamba Primary School in
Dorowa is under investigation for allegedly stealing an estimated $10 000 paid
by parents as fees and levies over the years.
The theft was recently unearthed by parents who quickly put
the matter into their hands and chased away the head from the school.
Manicaland Provincial Education Director, Mr Edward Shumba, said the ministry’s
auditors were now investigating Mr Everson Mudarikwa’s case.
“Our auditors are currently checking all the books at the
school to identify the alleged discrepancies,” he said. “From the briefing I
got over the matter, it seems the headmaster committed the alleged theft
through under-receipting and parallel receipting of paid school fees. There are
also funds which cannot be accounted for.
“With regard to under-receipting, what happened was that he
wrote or entered less amounts on the receipt book than the actual figure that
was tendered to him. The assumption here is that he pocketed the difference.
“Coming to parallel receipting, it meant that the
headmaster had his own receipt book which was not in the system which he used
when receipting paid fees. These funds disappeared completely. The auditors
will get all the evidence and we will tell you what really transpired,” he said.
Mr Shumba said the ministry would only act after the completion of the audit.
“We stand guided by what comes out of the audit. If there
is any transgression, we will charge the headmaster accordingly and if there is
any criminality, the case will be handed over to the police for further
management.”
Those privy to the case, said the headmaster, who is now
back at the school following the intervention of the parent ministry allegedly
misappropriated the school fees over the years.
“This school has never been audited and the head took
advantage of that to steal. He virtually did everything on his own, running the
school like his own business project. Some of the receipt books have been
destroyed and it is hard for the auditors to unearth everything. “When parents
realised that they were being ripped off, they chased him from the school and
reported the matter to the police. He was arrested, but later released after
the parents failed to provide evidence to support their claims,” said a source.
Last month, the Ministry of Primary and Secondary
Education, said it would deploy auditors in the province to assess the
adherence by schools to set accounting procedures. Permanent Secretary, Dr
Sylvia Utete-Masango, said apart from fishing out rot, the audits would help
school authorities to come up with decisions that aid the effective and
efficient use of available resources. She urged parents to provide tips each
time they suspect foul play at schools. Last year, the nationwide audits
unearthed stinking corruption and rampant embezzlement of funds, with some
school heads failing to produce documents to support expenditure, while
incentives that had been banned by Government were still being paid.
Dr Utete-Masango said the auditors would institute special
investigations where school heads and School Development Committees are accused
of embezzling fees and levies. Some of
the cases that hogged limelight include the case in which a school clerk at
Little St Augustine’s Primary School in Penhalonga, Mrs Monica Mukandi
allegedly failed to account for $2 843.
At Munyira High School, $1 920 could not be accounted for,
while the school head went into hiding after allegedly converting $6 000 meant
for fees to his own use.
Close to $13 000 was allegedly stolen at Hande High School,
while $3 386 disappeared at Madzivire Secondary School. An estimated $500 could
not be accounted for at Singwizi Primary School in Chipinge, while the school
clerk at Tsanzaguru Primary in Rusape could not account for $2 500. At St
George’s Muchena Primary School in Penhalonga, the head, one Mr Muzaeni
allegedly failed to account for more than $3 000, which he withdrew from the
school account. At Crossdale Primary School in Nyanga District, the head
allegedly converted to personal use $640,50 meant for orphans and vulnerable
children while at Bangwe Primary School in Chipinge, the school authorities
allegedly failed to comprehensively provide supporting documentation for
expenditure of $1 900. Manica Post
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