A bitter dispute over the administration of Chibila Secondary School in Binga has intensified, with community members demanding that the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education suspend a planned Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church accreditation exercise until the school’s ownership battle is resolved.
Villagers, who built the school through collective contributions, say they were never consulted about transferring authority to the SDA Church and fear the accreditation would legitimise what they describe as an unlawful takeover.
“We are appealing to the Ministry to immediately suspend the accreditation process until the authority dispute is resolved,” said community representative Stanley Maphosa.
“How can accreditation proceed when the authority of the school is still being disputed by the very community that built it?”
The community has written three letters to Binga Rural District Council (RDC) chief executive officer Joshua Muzamba since 2023 seeking intervention but has received no response.
Village heads also wrote to the Matabeleland North provincial education director that same year requesting de-registration of the school under the SDA Church, but have been met with silence, according to Maphosa.
Tensions escalated last month when signposts bearing the name Chibila Secondary School were allegedly removed without consultation and replaced with Chibila Adventist signs.
Residents also claimed that parents of learners benefiting from the government’s Basic Education Assistance Module (Beam) programme have been instructed to pay school fees, while learners wearing wrist strings associated with Zionist churches are reportedly being turned away.
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In one incident that has sparked outrage, a female learner’s hair was allegedly shaved without her parents’ consent, creating conflict between the family and school administration.
The school was established through the collective efforts of all 31 villages in the ward, with each village contributing three bags of cement and 1 000 bricks.
The community first built toilets with assistance from Save the Children before constructing temporary learning shelters.
They later raised funds for an administration block, classroom block and teachers’ cottage.
The Lusulu Foundation later built additional infrastructure, and another classroom block came through the government’s School Improvement Grant programme.
A fourth classroom block was funded during the Covid-19 period.
A community member said the SDA Church had initially indicated it would support the project but later advised it was unable to do so.
“We were surprised to later hear that the school had been placed under the SDA Church’s authority. What we are asking for are the minutes of the meeting where the community agreed to that decision because we were never consulted,” the source said.
Maphosa criticised the slow response from authorities and alleged that education officials in the district had sided with the church instead of addressing community concerns.
“This has created a perception within the community that the Inspector’s Office is siding with the church,” he said.
The community is now calling for an immediate suspension of the accreditation process, an investigation by the Ministry, Binga RDC and the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission, and the restoration of community participation in decisions affecting the school.
“We are not against development or churches, but community property should not change hands without transparency and the involvement of the people who established it,” Maphosa said.
A school official declined to comment, referring Southern Eye to senior authorities. Ministry spokesperson Edson Masungo also refused to comment, saying the church should speak on the matter.
An SDA Church representative similarly deflected, directing inquiries to the Ministry of Education, saying: “They are the rightful people who have all the registration details.”
The representative confirmed the accreditation programme was conducted jointly by the church and the Ministry and “cannot be done secretly,” adding that the planned exercise would be the third accreditation at Chibila Secondary School.
