DAMBASHOKO villagers in Gwanda North, Matabeleland South, have petitioned the Gwanda Rural District Council and the government to grant them permission to construct a secondary school in the village. SILAS NKALA STAFF REPORTER
This follows a showdown between villagers resettled at Insindi Farm and those in Dambashoko over the construction of Sikhwili Khohli Moyo Secondary School inside the property that used to be owned by Joseph Alexander Stewart in Gwanda’s Ward 24.
Dambashoko villagers have been against the construction of the secondary school at the farm outside their ward saying it did not make sense to build a school in an area with just 100 families instead of building it in their village which has more people.
Construction of Sikhwili Khohli Moyo Secondary School has been in abeyance since 2003 after Dambashoko villagers, who constitute the majority of the labour force, quit the project demanding that the school instead be built in their village.
Dambashoko village head Themba Sibindi said villagers had petitioned the local authority and Primary and Secondary Education ministry demanding that they be granted permission to build a secondary school in Ward 2.
“Reasons we cited for the need for a school are that we have no secondary school in the ward and our children have to go to other wards such as Ward Four at Nkwidze Secondary and Ward One at Nkashe High School,” he said.
Sibindi said the two secondary schools close to his village were between 5km and 12km away and such long distances were affecting the performance of learners.
“The petition was handed over to Ward Two councillor Jerot Sibanda, who is expected to table it at a full council meeting in Gwanda for discussion,” he said.
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“Over 100 villagers signed the petition and indicated that the site for the school will be along the road network for easy access by government officials and any other transporters.
“Other reasons were that the village has a large number of homesteads from which learners can be drawn.”
Sibindi said his village had enough water sources and that would make it easy for villagers to mould bricks and construct the school.
“Villagers are committed to do the work themselves and even some whose relatives are in the Diaspora have pledged to chip in with financial and material resources for the project,” he said.
“We are only waiting for approval by authorities. Once that is done the actual construction of the school will not take time.”
Sibanda confirmed receiving the villagers’ petition and said he had already forwarded it to Gwanda council’s chief executive officer Ronny Sibanda for consideration.
“We will be having a full council meeting on September 30 and I hope it will be discussed,” he said.
