Online Reporter
Yeukai Karengezeka
Court Correspondent
Suspended Blakiston Primary School headmistress, Memory Chaikosa (51) and her former assistant bursar, Ronald Mashonganyika (27), have appeared in court facing fraud charges arising from the alleged misappropriation of school funds amounting to US$29 047.
The two were brought before Harare magistrate Ms Ruth Moyo on Monday November 24, 2025 and were granted US$200 bail each.
They are expected to return to court on December 12, 2025.
The complainant in the case is the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, represented by Mr Mufudzi Solomon Mafukidze in his official capacity as the District Schools Inspector for the Northern Region.
Mashonganyika’s duties as assistant bursar included receipting cash, preparing payments, updating customer accounts and maintaining the school’s cashbook.
Chaikosa, as the school headmistress, was responsible for overseeing all activities at the school, ensuring all cash received was banked into the school’s official account and supervising financial operations.
According to standard financial procedures outlined in the Financial Management Training Manual for Non-Finance Education Managers and the Public Finance Management Act (Treasury Instruction) of 2019, all school funds must be banked in the same currency they were received.
A daily banking process is mandatory for banking stations and heads are required to verify and master all cash transactions, ensuring alignment with receipts.
If a headmaster delegates banking duties, they are obliged to verify that the amount deposited matches their total, signing the banking register as confirmation.
However, investigations revealed that between January 1, 2024, and February 2025, Mashonganyika, who was responsible for receiving a total of US$211 748, allegedly conspired with Chaikosa to underreport US$29 047, which was diverted for personal use.
Only US$182 701 was deposited into the school’s official bank account.
The investigations found that both the school officials failed to adhere to the prescribed financial management procedures.
Chaikosa, as the headmistress, reportedly neglected her supervisory duties and failed to ensure the money was banked as required.
The Financial Management Training Manual explicitly states that the head is ultimately accountable for all financial activities, including banking.
Investigators further established that the pair actively worked together to ensure that the underbanked money was concealed.
As a result, the school lost US$29 047, which remains unaccounted for.
Peter Tanyanyiwa