Chaos at Kwekwe school enters second day

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Chaos at Emthonjeni Government Primary School entered the second day, with parents refusing to leave the school until the headmaster, his deputy and the SDA were fired.

KWEKWE — Chaos at Emthonjeni Government Primary School entered the second day, with parents refusing to leave the school until the headmaster, his deputy and the School Development Association (SDA) were fired.

Blessed Mhlanga

Parents accuse the SDA and the headmaster, only identified as E Mwale, of stealing money meant for teacher incentives, to fund their own flamboyance.

Terrence Mambende, a parent, said he was not going to leave the school until the impasse had been resolved and pupils were back in classes, after teachers allegedly staged a sit-in demanding their incentives.

“The standards of learning here are very low. Our children in Grade 7 cannot write a simple letter, yet teachers are now sitting in and refusing to do their job because a few individuals are stealing money here. We will not leave this place until the headmaster his deputy and the SDA are removed,” he said.

The SDA, was from morning locked in a meeting with parents trying to find a solution to the chaos, which saw police officers being roped in to maintain peace among an increasingly agitated mob.

Parents accused the SDA of `embarking on projects without consulting or giving them feedback and in the process paying out too much money to companies linked to executive members of the association.

SDA treasurer Albert Bwanausi is accused of having used his influence to award Welguard Security, a company he owns, a contract to guard the school. A culture centre was also constructed at the school for $7 000, a figure the parents dispute.

SDA chairman Moses Mutapira confirmed to the restive parents that Welguard Security was owned by Bwanausi, but when the company was engaged, nobody knew he owned it.

“We did not know that one of ours was owner of the security firm when we gave them the contract because they were the cheapest after we recieved three quotations as per government directive,” he said.

The standoff continued into the lunch break, with parents agreeing that they would move to meet ministry officials to ensure that Mwale and his deputy Julian Murisa were removed from the school.

Adonis Manjengwa, who led the protesting parents, said Murisa, fingered as corrupt in a 2012 government audit of the school, should be transferred elsewhere if government cannot fire her.

“We have resolved that Mwale and Murisa should be moved from the school. The SDA will be dealt with at an AGM soon. People who have a history of fraud should not be allowed near the school,” she said. A bullish Murisa, meanwhile, vowed that she would go nowhere because she had links high up in the ministry.

“They cannot destroy me and this is my home. I am not going anywhere even if they call newspaper people, I am not going,” she said.