The Sunday News
A MYSTERIOUS fire gutted the headmaster’s office at Zhombe SDA Primary School in Gokwe immediately after auditors from the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education pitched up at the school for auditing.
Surprisingly, there is no electricity at the school, hence school authorities cannot attribute the fire to an electric fault.
The development, which happened on Thursday last week, torched a storm which led to parents staging a demonstration, demanding the sacking of the headmaster after paying back the money which he is suspected to have converted to his personal use.
Primary and Secondary Education Minister Dr Lazarus Dokora recently ordered an audit of schools after discovering that most school heads were working hand-in-glove with school development officials to embezzle school funds.
Teachers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said auditors visited the school in the morning and as the school head was accompanying them to his office, they discovered that the office where all the school records were kept was on fire.
School Development Committee member Ms Charity Chidzorera confirmed the incident and said parents were calling for the sacking of the school head.
“Parents are demanding the sacking of the school head. The head is the only person who carries the office keys hence he should know how the office caught fire. There is no electricity at the school hence an electric fault is ruled out. As parents we still need evidence on how the money was spent. We will not buy the idea that records were gutted by fire,” she said.
Ms Simangaliso Mhlophe, a parent of a pupil at the school, said the demonstration was clear testimony to the fact that parents wanted a new headmaster and failure of the ministry to heed their call “will result in some far-reaching consequences”.
“We cannot be led by someone who is untrustworthy. As parents we have resolved that no one is going to pay school fees as long as the headmaster has not been changed. Every parent is prepared to stand before the court and explain why we are not paying school fees. Even if there was an electrical fault, there is no reason why it is only the office with financial books that was affected. We are not educated but no one will buy that excuse. He should pay back the money and leave us in peace,” said Ms Mhlophe. Contacted for comment, Midlands provincial education director Mrs Agnes Gudo said she could neither confirm nor deny the matter.
Mrs Gudo said she had been conducting workshops in the province for the past two weeks hence she was not up to date with what was happening in the province.
