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Aribino Nicholas Correspondent
According to Auditor-General Ms Mildred Chiri’s 2015 report, the Ministry of Public Service Labour and Social Welfare last year used $500 000 meant for the Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM) to purchase food hampers for its officials. It is indeed sad to learn that officials in the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare squandered money that was meant for the Basic Education Assistance Module by buying food hampers for Ministry officials. This behaviour is wrong and should be strongly condemned.
BEAM, especially for children with disabilities is their be-all and end-all as a safety net in the domain of education. This is so because the majority of students with disabilities come from families experiencing multidimensional poverty. Poverty and disability have a bidirectional link and as such parents of children with disabilities live in abject poverty. The Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare officials are better placed to know the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of Children’s (ACRWC) cross cutting principle of the best interest of the Child.
In the UNCRC the best interest principle is under Article 3, while in the ACRWC it is under Article 4 and in the UNCRPD it is under Article 7. For the purpose of this discourse it is prudent to share with the readership what the best interest of the child says. The best interest of the child in the UNCRC says, ‘In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interest of the child shall be a primary consideration.’ Zimbabwe is a signatory state to the above international and regional instruments on the rights of the child. Given that undertaking by our Government it therefore means that the government should observe the best interest of the child in all its actions. The government is an entity that is made up of different ministries, and these ministries should be seen behaving in accordance with the international and regional principles that seek out to protect and promote the rights of the child.
The move by the said ministry to divert BEAM funds does not create a fertile environment for investment in social protection programmes by Non-State Actors as they will think that funding will be misdirected by the government. It is because of such irresponsible actions by government ministries and departments that Non-State Actors have not contributed directly to the national fiscus. Money meant for BEAM, unless common sense has become a scarce commodity and cannot be ring fenced for food hampers; surely that is at tangent with the best interest of the disadvantaged child.
The best interest of the child asks of adults to do what is best for children. Essentially, adults are duty bearers and as duty bearers they have obligations to fulfil especially where meeting the rights of children are concerned. Obligations are by their very nature mandatory as compared to being discretionary. In the case of the officials in the Ministry of Public Service Labour and Social Welfare who abused BEAM funds, it is as clear as a bell that they did not put the interest of children ahead of their egoistic needs. The best interest of the child’s bottom line is that adults should think about the best interests of children and young people when making choices that affect them. In practice this means that adults like parents, guardians or teachers should think about the best interests of children when they make decisions. The best interest of the child principle goes a stage further to embrace adults in positions of power such as those who work in government or in courts to think about the best interests of all children and young people in their jurisdiction when making laws. In-toto, all decisions that are made by duty bearers should work for the greater good of children.
The Auditor General’s observations could just be a tip of the iceberg, there is need for a forensic audit in this Ministry to establish the extent of leakages. The said ministry has not acquitted itself well as it is the custodian ministry for children in Zimbabwe. It doesn’t make sense for the ministry officials to claim that they diverted BEAM funds because they had not received adequate funds from treasury to cover its costs. Their act was selfish, inconsiderate and at odds with the purposes for which the money had been allotted.
The beneficiary population of BEAM has not, by and large received any sympathy from the government of Zimbabwe (GoZ). They have experienced discrimination in terms of enjoying economic resources that should enable them to access education. For example, students with disabilities who form the majority of BEAM beneficiaries have gone without having their fees paid since 2014. This act by their de facto parent, which is the government, has led to school wastage. When BEAM funds are erratic, it disrupts school governance and management; it becomes a hard task for heads of schools to plan effectively. The Zimbabwean government has also gone on to initiate STEM, a programme that benefits students who are good at sciences by meeting their fees. All of a sudden the cash strapped government has money to muscle the STEM scheme at the cost of BEAM. BEAM beneficiaries are seen as useless tax eaters as compared to the envisaged benefits that would come with STEM beneficiaries. The STEM scheme has not even considered any means testing, as compared to BEAM.
In summation, it is advisable that government should prioritise the education of disadvantaged children by ensuring that economic resources allocated towards their learning needs are not abused by greedy officials. This can be done through the continued monitoring of ministries like the one that exposed the misuse of the $500 000.
Aribino Nicholas- is ZIMCARE Trust Country Director
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